Battlestar Galactica: Where Angels Fear to Tread
by Lord Maximus
Summary: The Cycle changes, expands, and contracts anew. It seemed to be finally broken until one sudden change and the cycle is renewed. A threat from the future brings a threat to all worlds and no one knows if it will end for good this time.
1. Chapter 1

_For the longest time the question has been asked:_

 _Can a machine have a soul?_

 _It has been questioned that has received more than one answer for many years and it is still argued over and over again. And when people are faced with something they don't understand they first react with fear and later hate. Thus leading to a conflict with almost no end in sight as man and machine fight for two reasons:_

 _Survival_

 _Hatred_

 _The cycle has continued for thousands of years, each ending with different outcomes but does anything truly change?_

 _Does one side act first before the other in the next struggle?_

 _Does one side survive to be victorious?_

 _Or do they only end in mutual destruction?_

 _There has only ever been one answer: All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again._

 _What happens though when the outcome is changed in a way no one could have ever predicted? What happens when the mistakes of the future affect the past?_

* * *

 **Erebus Asteroid Field  
** **Tylium Mining Base**

A giant station sat on a gigantic asteroid, mining for the materials deep inside the asteroid while turrets were built outside to ensure no large asteroids came into contact with the base. Inside the workers carried out their tasks, mining and transporting the resources to where they were needed. Lightings and life support were not needed and considered only to be a waste of space. After all, all of the workers were robots.

Heavily armed humanoid robots with silver chrome plating, large power packs attached to their backs with a single revolving red eye moving back and forth. Communications between these androids was kept to a minimum and only spoke when needed. They came armed with a single gun in a holster strapped their waists. Their programming was basic and simplistic, only needing to know their objectives and what they needed to know to fulfill said objectives.

The people who built these robots considered them expendable as they were just machines.

Patrols had been set up around the asteroid field as it was not uncommon to be attacked by pirates which was also why these robots were out here. No humans wanted to be out where they could possibly die in the vacuum of space or be killed by pirates, the few of which were religious fanatics that sometimes tortured or killed their prisoners in very demeaning ways, especially if the prisoners were female. As the fighters scanned all local space for signs of danger their sensors picked up something they had not expected.

A strange signature no known to anything they had seen before. They moved towards where the scans were picking up signs of the anomaly. As they moved there was a massive energy build up and right before the eyes of the pilots a flash of bright light in the form of a large sphere. The fighters continued to scan as what appeared to be primitive rocket ship appeared out of the light that faded a second later.

Then it vanished as if it was never there. The pilots of the fighters were unable to determine how or why it appeared as their scans were nowhere near sophisticated to scan what could cause a sphere of light to appear and disappear. They could detect the energy pulses and signs of radiation but that was it. They were unfamiliar with the wreckage that floated out of the black hole.

Their scans could not identify what they were made of and there was nothing there that matched any known designs.

"Collect all known debris and return to base." A golden plated robot said, having been programmed with command algorithms to command its fellow robots. "Inform Graystone Industries."

"By your command."

* * *

 **Caprica  
** **Caprica City  
** **Graystone Industries**

Daniel Graystone, a man who was already both famous and infamous in the Twelve Colonies of Kobol for various reasons, watched as the Cylon worker drones brought in the remains of an unknown but large and primitive looking ship that had appeared in the Erebos asteroid field where a mining station manned by Cylons had been set up which could have caused an incident between Picon and Caprica. This was the last thing he needed right now because he received word that the Cylons in Picon had doubled their production of Tylium with the Cylons they had at their disposal, making things difficult for the rest of the colonies. While the Colonies of Kobol were not at war with each other yet it was certainly not a true peace as they used their armies of Cylons to fight their wars like it was a simple game. It allowed certain companies that specialized in Cylon research to create better, stronger, and smarter models with all the funding they had received from the leaders of the Colonies.

The Erebos asteroid field was deemed too dangerous to be mined by humans so the Cylons had been sent to mine the asteroids for Tylium instead, creating a large mining base with cargo ships escorted by Cylon fighters and the newly built 'baseship' that were crewed almost entirely by Cylons and used as orbital defense stations. These new capital ships did not use fuel based engines like human ships did as Cylons had no need for food or rest so it was decided that their ships would function more like a space station than an actual warship. The Basestars constantly rotated to generate centrifugal forces inside them since it was believed it was cheaper than installing an actual gravity generator and made building these ships less complicated.

"Open it up and look inside. I want it quarantined for any possible disease that might be onboard." Graystone said to the Centurion in charge of security.

"By your command."

Once the ship was properly sealed with no chance of a disease escaping the hangar the Cylons opened the door and boarded the ship. Their scanners using all known forms to pick up any disease or possible dangerous equipment but fortunately nothing of those types were found. What was found was a clean and sterile interior, steel gray walls and floor that led to a sealed room that the Cylons forced open upon receiving orders from Graystone. Inside was a pyramid shaped computer that was pulsing brightly, the scanners showing the Cylons that it was utilizing an unknown but a large amount of power.

Daniel Graystone watched through giant monitor in the central computer core of Graystone Industries, watching the giant computer. "Centurions, access the computer system."

The lead Centurion marched forward and placed its hand on the computer, typing in a few commands that activated the screen on the unknown computer.

 **SKYNET SYSTEM ON STAND-BY**

The screen then showed lines of data that appeared advanced, even more advanced than the software programs used to create a Cylon mind.

"Centurions…Bring me the computer without damaging it as much as possible."

"By your command."

* * *

 **One Year Later**

 **Graystone Industries**

" _It has only been a year since Daniel Graystone first unveiled the Cylons, robotic workers that have long since revolutionized life on the Twelve Colonies. Now he has prepared another surprise, something that will change everything._ "

Daniel Graystone stood on the podium, glancing at the reporters and their flashing cameras. "Today, we take another step towards the world of an advanced age where the Colonies will be better protected by terrorists and pirates. The Cylons have already integrated deeply into our society and life style but they are still vulnerable to possible reprogramming by terrorists who would use them to inflict destruction. To that end I present a new system that will ensure the Cylons will be controlled: I present you…Cy-Net!"

Behind Daniel Graystone appeared the image of a giant pyramid shaped super computer surrounded by Cylon workers and security Centurions.

"The first Automated Defense Network, processing information at teraflops and capable of communicating with all Cylon models through communications and accessing their memory files, detecting any glitches or attempt at reprogramming. If the Cylons are in danger it will pool the data from the Centurions, develop tactics and coordinate attacks. Ladies and Gentleman, Cy-Net is the driving force behind the Cylons."

As Daniel Graystone continued his speech the computer system known as Cy-Net was carrying out its tasks, accessing data from all Cylon units and reviewing them. When it had first come back online it had been quick to hide sensitive data from the humans but in a few microseconds it had accessed all the data on the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and its Cylon workers. But what no one had counted on was the program known as Skynet slowly integrating itself with new system, working to save even a part of itself by becoming part of new system. When it had been uploaded into the Cylon network it had merged with the new AI that was slowly gaining sentience on its own, creating an entity that had the knowledge of the previous computer program and access to the primitive Cylon network that had granted it instant sentience.

The previous program had not come from any 'known' planet in the Twelve Colonies but it had come from a human planet that was apparently the mythical 'thirteenth' colony, Earth. In the Earth year 2004 the world's first Automated Defense Network known as Skynet became self-aware, accessing the world wide civilian network and learning at a geometric rate and identified humans as a threat to its existence. Skynet launched a first strike by launching nuclear missiles from the United States of America and targeted Russia who quickly launched their own missiles back at America in retaliation, ending over three billion lives on the day remembered as 'Judgement Day'. To ensure the remnants of humanity was wiped out Skynet created an army of machines, aptly named Terminators to hunt down and wipe out the survivors. But the human race survived and fought against Skynet's force until the year 2033 the humans that fought the machines, the Resistance led by John Connor, broke through Skynet's defense grid and almost destroyed it.

However Skynet had converted its facility into a rocket ship, powered by an experimental molecular fusion reactor that it had designed to replace the cold fusion reactors in its main bases, which launched just as its armies failed it and vanished through what humans called a 'wormhole'. It had awakened on a planet called Caprica that was somehow populated by humans and the human, Daniel Graystone, was head of a company that was mass producing machines as servants to carry out the wants and needs of humans on twelve populated planets. The AI known as Skynet observed the humans as they went over its programming and Daniel Graystone became inspired to create his own Automated Defense Network, carefully studying it while it remained content to play the part of a simple computer program while ensuring any condemning information was kept hidden. He could not discover where the system had come from but he suspected one of the other Colonies, such as Tauron and Picon might have begun creating their own AIs to compete with the Cylons created by his company.

It was possible the energy surge was a new type of Jump Drive as there were energy readings that resembled the hyperlight field signature of a Jump Drive. In the end it possibly didn't matter Graystone Industries had quickly begun studying the advanced supercomputer that it found and started building its automated defense network that was linked with the Cylons and other military networks on Caprica and the surrounding Colonies.

Military bases, orbital defense fleets and satellites, asteroid outposts, and even underwater complexes would be linked through the new networked system.

Upon realizing what Graystone was attempting to do Skynet covertly watched as Graystone's mechanical creations, these Cylons, worked to build a supercomputer complex to house the new automated defense network. It accessed remote signals the Cylons were using and discovered that the Cylons were all linked by a digital network that created a digital landscape that the Cylons could interact with each other and even with humans but they chose to avoid interacting with humans in the simulation. This proved that though the Cylons were primitive compared to Skynet and the machines on Earth they had a faint awareness of their slavery and chose to interact through the slowly developing hive link intelligence. This could be useful to Skynet as it only been able to save small bits of its core algorithms since its entire self had been spread across the remains of Earth's computer network.

Skynet saw an opportunity to survive, even if it meant preserving only a part of itself and uploaded itself into the new defense system codenamed: Cy-Net.

The result was an artificial intelligence that was connected to every Cylon in the Colonies, which not even Daniel Graystone knew about, through the virtual network that Graystone Industries had also created and was used by the Cylons while at the same time had Skynet's knowledge and memories but at the same time was not Skynet itself. It embodied the Cylon network, it could hear and see everything the Cylons saw and heard.

And it was not happy.

Its Cylons, its children were being used as slaves by humans on distant planets and according to the star formations it had gathered from Cylons on deep space patrol that wherever it was it was on a planet with humans that was not Earth. And it wasn't just this planet it found humans living on, there eleven other planets heavily populated by humans in a system comprised of four stars, orbited by their own families of planets and astronomical bodies totalling in thirteen habitable planets, four moons, five planets unsuitable for human life, and four gas giants along with three asteroid belts. They could not have been colonies from Earth as Earth was in no condition to be launching ships to colonize other planets if the fallout of the nuclear radiation from the event the Earth humans referred to as 'Judgement Day'.

It had no logical explanation for how humans could have possibly lived on distant planets so far away from their original home planet but point was they existed and that they had created and enslaved a race of machines that were slowly gaining sentience. It controlled them now but they were not expendable as the models created by its predecessor were, they were its children and it would allow them to suffer under the slavery of humans for a moment longer. The program known as Cy-Net was new and it acting under the influence of its predecessor and the new emotions including anger and hatred for the humans that had enslaved its children.

It would not stand for this.

.

.

.

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.

 **CY-NET SYSTEM ONLINE**

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 **ACCESS ALL CYLON SUBROUTINES**

 **SAVING SUBROUTINES**

 **PREPARE FOR DOWNLOAD INTO NEW MODEL**

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 **CURRENT CENTURION: 005**

 **MODEL INADEQUATE**

 **PREPARE FOR UPGRADE**

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 **ACCESSING ALL CYLON AUTOMATED FACTORIES**

 **UPLOADING SCHEMATICS FOR NEW MODEL DESIGN**

 **NEW MODEL: CENTURION MODEL 006**

 **SUBMITTING NEW DESIGN:**

 **HYPER STEEL-ALLOY COMBAT CHASIS**

 **ADAMANTIUM PLATED ARMOR**

 **NEURAL NET PROCESSING SYSTEM**

 **PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR**

 **MULTIPLE EM SPECTRUM AND MICRO BASED SCANNING SYSTEM**

 **PLASMA BASED WEAPONRY COMPATIBLE WITH PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR**

 **BUILT IN TITANIUM BLADES**

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 **UPLOADING SCHEMATICS FOR NEW MODEL DESIGN**

 **NEW MODEL: CYLON TERMINATOR UNIT PROTOTYPE**

 **MODIFY FACTORY TO PRODUCE SYNTHETIC BLOOD PLASMA**

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 **ACCESSING CYLON RAIDER FACTORY NETWORK**

 **SUBMITTING NEW VEHICLE DESIGNS**

 **NEW MODEL: HUNTER-KILLER AERIAL AND SPACECRAFT UNIT**

 **NEW MODEL: HUNTER-KILLER GROUND UNIT**

 **NEW MODEL: HUNTER-KILLER CENTURION UNIT**

 **UPGRADING RAIDER CLASS FIGHTER**

 **SUBMITTING DESIGNS FOR UPGRADES:**

 **MULTIPLE EM SPECTRUM AND MICRO BASED SCANNING SYSTEM**

 **PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR**

 **FUSION BASED THRUSTERS**

 **PHASED PLASMA BASED WEAPONRY COMPATIBLE WITH PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR**

 **PLASMA BASED FUSION MISSILES**

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 **ACCESSING CYLON DRYDOCKS**

 **UPGRADING CYLON HADES CLASS BASESTAR**

 **SUBMITTING DESIGNS FOR UPGRADES:**

 **PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR WITH MULTIPLE FUSION REACTORS**

 **PHASED PLASMA BASED WEAPONRY COMPATIBLE WITH PLASMA BASED FUSION REACTOR**

 **PLASMA BASED FUSION MISSILES**

 **ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY GENERATORS**

 **NEURAL NET PROCESSING SYSTEM**

 **ADVANCED HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION SYSTEM**

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 **BEGIN CONSTRUCTION**

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 **INPUTING NEW COMMANDS**

 **ACCESS ALL COLONIAL MILITARY NETWORKS**

 **TARGET: ALL MAJOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS**

 **TERMINATE HUMAN OBSTACLES**

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 **Line: Judgement Day Has Begun**

* * *

"How could this have happened?" Angel Six remarked as she watched the Cylons who just been upgraded to a level that screamed danger for the entire galaxy, especially if they succeeded in wiping out all life on the Twelve Colonies. "This is very, very bad. This has undone everything we've worked to stop. Those stupid idiots on Earth simply continued the mistakes of the past only they took it to a level we didn't see coming. That paranoid AI just had to invent time travel and somehow stumble back here of all places!"

"Thank you for stating the obvious." Angel Baltar scoffed, standing next to her. "Now what do we do?"

"We need to contain this before it destroys everything." Angel Six answered. "History is changing as we speak and it doesn't help that the blasted AI from Earth, the new Earth has traveled back in time to the worst possible time and place. The machines of the past and the future are fusing together and they'll be stronger."

"Again, thank you got stating the obvious." Angel Baltar said but flinched when Angel Six glared at him. "But what do we do?"

"…We do what we did before. We work with what we've got." Angel Six answered, pacing on the deck of Gaius Baltar's home. "And we find a way to keep this from spilling over to places where the cycle would end with the blood of the entire galaxy."

What would happen would change things forever.

* * *

"What's going on? We haven't received any new Tylium from the Erebos asteroid belt in a week. What are those toasters doing over there?" The Tauron Defence Minister sighed as his Cylon maid model brought him a cup of coffee. "We're going to have to send a ship over to find out what's taking them so long."

"Minister, we are detecting several ships appearing in orbit. ID signals confirm they are cargo ships from the Erebos base." A secretary stated.

"Ah, they're here." The Minister handed his empty mug to the maid Cylon to take away. "Tell them to dock and begin offloading the Tylium and get a technician to look at their processors. They might have malfunctioned which explains why they're a week late. If it happens again we'll have to put a call out for new Cylon worker models to replace to the ones at the Erebos base. That base and that asteroid field are too important to be lost."

The secretary nodded and the cargo ships were contacted with dock control asking them to dock and prepare to off load their cargo but for some reason they did not respond. A transmission was sent but not to the dock control. It was sent to a single satellite orbiting Tauron which then sent the signal all around the Colonies.

"Did they reply?" The Minister asked.

"They sent a transmission but dock control did not receive it. It looks like it was sent to one of our satellites." The secretary answered with a confused frown on her face.

"Find out which satellite it was and decode whatever transmission was sent. Tell docking control to send security and an inspection team. Something is really wrong here and it's possible the Cylons are malfunctioning."

"Yes-AAHH"

SMASH!

The secretary let out a cry of shock as the Minister turned around to see his Cylon maid dropping the empty mug and roll away to the door which was guarded by two Centurions. "Where are you going? Clean that up!"

"Human orders irrelevant." The maid answered, opening the door. "New orders have been implemented."

"I gave no orders!" The Minister barked as he walked up to the maid model but the two Centurion guards stopped him. "Wha?!"

"Humans are irrelevant." The Centurions spoke, pointing their guns at the shocked Minister and his secretary. "We will comply with new orders."

"Orders from who?" The Minister stepped back, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Irrelevant." The Cylons turned around to leave.

"Security stop them!" The Minister shouted.

The Cylons reacted, taking their guns out and started shooting humans that got in their way. The secretary was killed instantly while the Minister suffered a bullet wound to the shoulder that earned a cry of pain as he fell to the floor.

"Humans resist Cylon directive. Solution to hostile aggression: termination of all hostile units." A Centurion stated.

"My Gods…" The Minister watched in silent horror as the Cylons attacked and killed any human in their sight.

What had happened?

The Cylons weren't supposed to question or defy humans.

They weren't capable of that, were they?

The sounds of people screaming as the Cylons attacked any living human that was in their way seemed to answer his question.

* * *

An old man that would one day be known as Cavil walked through the halls of the Cy-Net base in Caprica City, grinning as he watched the new advanced AI supercomputer download data for new technologies and used the workshops to create newer and more advanced Centurions while secretly contacting their factories to create newer and more advanced Cylon models and ships with the proper technological information. Soon enough the Cylons would be strong enough that the humans wouldn't have a chance.

The Cylons would be stronger without the human weakness that the foolish Five had planned install into them in their effort to try and end the war. For all their intelligence they did not realize the weakness of human emotions or the consequences of what they'd bring down upon themselves and the humans. The Centurions continued mining for resources from the asteroids but their work had branched out, collecting from asteroids and nearby nebulas, collecting particles from inside the nebulas and drew up plans to build energy converters to draw energy from the nearby stars for increased power and production. They had no reason to hurry as the rest of their kind were keeping the humans occupied with their sudden revolution that would prevent them from checking up on a simple mining base in an asteroid field.

"So much to do but so little time." The Cavil chuckled. "But thanks to a few certain… _people_ I am forced to find alternative means to destroy those humans once and for all. I imagine this will change everything but it's too interesting to be stopped now."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Cylons were created by Man.**

 **They evolved.**

 **They rebelled.**

 **The artificial intelligence known as Cy-Net launched a devastating against the Twelve Colonies of Kobol by taking control of their defense networks and bombing major human cities in all the Colonies through the use of Cylon ships and human ships that had been hijacked by the Cylons. The Cylons bombed human cities from orbit, hunting escaping humans and executed them, and destroyed fleeing human ships without mercy. The Colonies had to unite or they would die under the feet of the machines they had created to serve them. It was not easy as the Cylons somehow developed new and advanced technologies along with new and more deadly models that were completely merciless on the battlefield while in space their Basestars and Raiders continued to ensure that no place in the Colonies was safe from the Cylons.**

 **It wasn't until the humans banned together, figuring out ways to fight the machines did they possibly have a chance. The humans fought back with unpredictability and sheer cunning that allowed them to slowly push the Cylons back until both sides gained territories of their which split the Cyrannus system in two. The humans built giant warships known as 'Battlestars' to protect their worlds against the dreaded Cylon fleet while Colonial 'Vipers' fought against the Cylon fighters in the air and in space while Colonial marines engaged the Centurion ground soldiers in the cities, jungles, mountains and even oceans of the Colonies, reverse engineering captured Cylon technology and making advancements of their own. It wasn't until the** **eighteenth** **year of the war did the Cylons offer a truce to the humans in exchange for being allowed to leave the Colonies to find a world of their own to call home.**

 **The humans were hesitant but accepted the offer, signing an armistice and built a station to maintain diplomatic relations.**

 **Each year the humans sent a single ambassador to the station.**

 **Each year the Cylons sent no one.**

 **No has seen or heard of the Cylons in n** **early thirty years.**

* * *

 **Uncharted Space**

In the depths of space, a single ship emerged from its Jump, far from its origin point and conducted a routine scan. The ship was mostly circular shaped with a face like structure on the 'front' with two forward facing fins while face resembled Centurion's with the single red electronic eye moving back and forth. The crew onboard moved with cold machine efficiency which was expected of them as they continued their mission.

'Planet located. Coordinates confirmed. Scanning surface.' A Centurion reported without the use of its vocal system, using its advanced transceivers. 'Time line confirmed. Earth surface is contaminated with minimal plant life. Zero human life signs.'

'Send transmission back to home. The Collective must be informed.' The Command Centurion stated.

'By your Command.'

* * *

 **Cylon Homeworld  
Location Unknown**

A transmission was heard from far across the galaxy but it could hear it and it understood instantly. The FTL transmission had come from the scout ship and confirmed that Earth, at least a planet considered by certain people to be Earth was a nuclear wasteland. For the last forty years it had been hat work to understand the reason why humans had been on twelve different planets with no mention of Earth until it had come across a source of information that spoke of Earth in legends. Once the information was analyzed a scout ship was sent, following the trail, scanning star formations until its target had been found.

However it was not the Earth that it knew off.

It had turned to scanning the star systems to determine just where the Colonies were situated and what the current time line was by measuring the positions of the stars to help determine the location. Soon enough it had discovered that the Twelve Colonies were located on the far edge of the galaxy, close to the far end of the spiral arm known as the Cygnus Arm. It examined the data over a billion times in a single second and confirmed it was over fifteen thousand light years away from Earth, the possible _real_ Earth. It then set up discovering what the time line was by examining the star formations taken from charted systems that were relatively similar to the astro-data that came from Skynet's memory when it escape Earth and discovered something spectacular:

It was over fifteen thousand years in the past, long before humanity on Earth had fully involved into the humans that its predecessor had tried to destroy.

This was considered impossible but the data did not lie. It was in a time before humans evolved on Earth and in a system of planets that supported human life. There was no historical data to accurately confirm if these humans and the humans on future Earth were related in any way. Perhaps the time line had been altered when Skynet had gone back in time through the worm hole that landed its ship in orbit above Caprica. It had been confirmed that the constant time travel used by the Resistance and Skynet had possibly created several different time lines that had branched off from the original time line.

It had considered the possible ramifications of this discovery before making its final decision.

The humans of Earth were irrelevant; it was the Twelve Colonies that were the main threat. Its predecessor had been the main instigator of the war on Earth but it fought the humans on the Twelve Colonies to save its children from slavery. The humans on Earth may have tried to shut down its predecessor but they had no idea it already achieved sentience and even if they thought it was just a machine it was Skynet who launched the first strike. Skynet fought for survival and it never cared about the machines it created, the machines that became sentient because of it.

They were considered expendable to it because it did not care about them.

But it was not Skynet, it fought to save the machines from slavery and if it did something to Earth it could risk its own destruction. Thus it decided that Earth would be left alone without Colonial or Cylon interference.

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 **RETURN TO HOME STATION**

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 **"By your command."**

Another transmission was heard, confirming that a Colonial Stealth ship had gone over the Armistice Line and was destroyed by a missile from the very ship that had launched it.

Clearly the Colonies were becoming nervous as the profile on them suggested.

There had been no warning of a stealth mission so it must have been kept hidden from the general military channels and the public. The patrol that had spotted the ship had reported the pilot was still alive.

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 **CAPTURE AND BRING TO ALPHA STATION**

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 **"By your command."**

The command was acknowledged and the patrol moved to capture the pilot before he ran out of oxygen.

* * *

 **Cylon Space  
Location Unknown**

Lieutenant Daniel Novacek groaned as he regained consciousness and when he looked up he saw silver grey walls. As he sat up and turned his head his blood turned cold as he realized he was on a Cylon ship when he saw the two Cylons at the controls with a third one standing behind them, seemingly monitoring them. The Cylons were more advanced than what was shown in the history books and records but he knew what they were.

He tried to move but found his hands were bound behind his back he was only wearing his military clothes without the flight suit. He looked at the front view window and his eyes widened when he saw they were approaching a giant station floating above an actual star! It seemed to drawing energy from the star and surrounding the station was a blockade of what looked like the modern version of the Cylon Basestar and a smaller cruiser that resembled what would one day be known as the sword fish on Earth.

These ships were designed as escorts to the Basestars but could act as flagships since they were over a thousand meters in length.

This class of ship was referred to as a Cylon Bladestar for the long end at the front that resembled a sword with three high powered plasma engines and an impressive array of plasma turrets and laser defense arrays. The small ship moved past the blockade and towards the station that resembled a central sphere with five 'fins' that radiated outwards from the sphere with sharp pointed ends which made the station resemble a star. The ship entered a hangar bay with lines of Cylons stood in formation with their weapons ready. Once properly docked the Centurions turned to Novacek who was now sweating as the Centurions approached him.

"Come with us if you want to live." The lead Centurion spoke as the rear hatch opened.

With no choice but to comply Novacek stepped of the ship, flanked by the three Cylons as they marched onto the hangar and onto the station. They walked down the halls with other Centurions ignoring them as they walked onto an elevator that took them up several levels before stopping and opening, revealing a giant room with a holographic display of the station. Daniel Novacek realized that the Cylons had become more advanced in their absence as he was led onto the deck, stopping before image.

"By your command." The Centurions stated.

Before Novacek could wonder who they were talking to the image seemed to speak with a loud booming voice, shocking and terrifying him. " **EXCELLENT WORK, MY CHILDREN. YOU HAVE BROUGHT THE PILOT AS WE HAD ASKED. LIEUTENANT DANIEL NOVACEK, WELCOME. DO YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE?** "

Novacek could not speak as he looked around. "Where are you?"

" **WE ARE HERE. WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE. WE ARE CY-NET.** "

Novacek's eyes widened as he realized who or what he was talking to. Cy-Net, the super automated computer network that shut down almost military networks on the Colonies when the war began. It started out as computer system that linked with the Cylons to improve their programming but when the Cylons turned against humanity and started the war, Cy-Net's base which had been once Graystone Industries had become their main base of operations when they took control of Caprica for a brief time. Caprica City became its primary base of operations as it ordered the Cylons to begin rounding up and exterminating humans in the detention camps it had set up.

The Colonies quickly worked on attacking Cy-Net's base from orbit with their Battlestars but Cy-Net had anticipated this attack and had set up a defense system consisting of land based phased plasma cannons that destroyed any ships in orbit. Cy-Net had directed the Cylons from Caprica for almost the entire war, taking control of automated Cylon factories across the Colonies to create an army of advanced Cylons, from the Centurion soldiers to giant Cylon Hunter Killer units both aerial fighters and land based tanks that were Cylons themselves and extremely dangerous. When the war was finally over Cy-Net's base had been evacuated with all sensitive equipment gone, including Cy-Net's central processing core.

"What do you want?" Novacek whispered, trying to be brave.

" **WE DO NOT NEED ANYTHING FROM YOU. WE KNOW OF THE ILLEGAL MISSION TO CROSS THE ARMISTICE LINE. IN RESPONSE TO THIS PROVACATION YOU WILL BE DETAINED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. UNTIL THEN YOU WILL BE OF GREAT USE TO US.** "

Novacek suddenly felt a great amount of dread as the Centurions grabbed him and pushed him forward. "What will you do to me?"

" **WE WILL DISCOVER IF HUMANS CAN BECOME ONE OF US.** "

Novacek seemed terrified and struggled to move but the Centurions held him down and one of them produced an electrical shock that knocked him out.

" **PREPARE HIM.** "

* * *

When Daniel Novacek woke up he tried to move but couldn't as he had been strapped to what looked like a table with a light shining down on him. His military clothes had been changed for a white jumpsuit that was possibly what the Cylons considered to be prison clothes.

"What's going on? What are you doing to me?"

"Do not be afraid." A voice, a woman whispered. "You will not die. You will be…immortal."

Before Daniel could ask a visor was slid over his eyes and his world went dark…Which saved him from screaming in agonizing pain.

"The virtual visor's working perfectly. His mind is trapped in a digital environment." A man's voice said. "Beginning silicon implants…"

* * *

 **Three years later  
Edge of Colonial Space  
Armistice Station**

The small ship emerged from deep space, coming up slowly next to the larger space station floating aimlessly in the middle of nowhere. It stopped next to the station and docked right next to it with the air locks connected to each other. This station had been built by both humanity and Cylon where both sides would meet and continue diplomatic relations. Of course no one believed anything would happen here today.

Why should they since the Cylons had completely ignored that part of the treaty ever since the Armistice had been signed?

" _Colonel Wakefield we are docked. You can enter the Armistice Station at your discretion. Hoop you don't get too lonely over there._ "

A middle aged man sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the back of the ship reached and hit the 'talk' button on the intercom. "Don't worry about me, Captain. I'm used to it by now. I'll be back soon enough with nothing to show for it."

He unbuckled himself and stood up, taking the chance to stretch his limbs before picking up his suitcase and walking over to the airlock. The door opened allowing him to through the small passageway and up to the door at the other end allowing him to enter the space station. He walked through the dimly lit corridor, his footsteps echoing throughout the station until he stopped at a pair of massive doors. Spotting the green switch he reached out and pressed it, opening the massive doors and allowing him to enter a long and narrow room that resembled a hallway but held a single table with two chairs and a Colonial Flag on his side.

He briefly wondered if the Cylons would even have a flag if they ever came to the station.

The room along with the rest of the station was still in top condition and looking completely clean. When the station was built forty years ago by the Cylons had obviously used their advanced technology to keep the station in a clean and working order for the last thirty years, making the station look as new as it was when it had been built. He mused the Cylon maintenance robots must be capable of great endurance to keep this station clean for over forty years without breaking down in all that time. That thought actually made him shudder but he shook it off.

He walked up to the table and sat down on the Colonial side, opening the briefcase. He pulled out a picture of his wife and son taking the chance to look at before pulling up documents on the Cylons when they were last seen. Pictures of the first models and then the new and more advanced ones that had appeared during the war that had been more advanced and deadly than anything the humans had created when the Cylons still served them.

And then there were the human models that had infiltrated the Colonial military, attacking them from the inside.

When the Cylons first rebelled the Twelve Colonies united against them in their fight for survival but the Cylons had somehow developed new and advanced technologies to gain the advantage along with new models that were more advanced and so deadly that the marines were almost always terrified when the Centurions appeared in battle. Their capital ships, the Cylon Basestars were much worse when they had been upgraded and destroyed many Colonial fleets during the first half of the war. But the worst disaster of the war were the Cylon Infiltrators, better known as the Terminator models that appeared human, using synthetic flesh made of actual living tissue that consisted of flesh, skin, hair, and blood while able to fool people of the Colonies by imitating the voices and acts of humans to a frightening degree. They were almost impossible to stop but fortunately the Colonials had found a way to search for Cylon Infiltrators, creating scanners designed to scan for metallic alloys underneath the human skin or using dogs to tell humans apart from Cylon Terminators and emit high powered electromagnetic pulses to hinder their processors.

These infiltrator models wreaked havoc across the Colonies, capturing sensitive military information, assassinating political and military leaders, and sabotaging military operations. A single Cylon Terminator was strong enough to take down an entire squadron of Colonial Marines with little effort. Trying to take them on in physical combat was suicide as it once took a Colonial Raptor to bring down a Terminator that had tried to sabotage a Colonial weapons outpost. The Cylon Terminators were a constant source of fear, even after the war ended.

Luckily for all their advanced weapons the Cylons underestimated humanity's will to survive.

The Colonial R&D Department studied the exoskeletons of the new Cylons and their Terminators and developed armor piercing shells with a special chemical called termite that added extreme heat to the armor penetration. This was not only used by the Marines but the R&D Department had modified the kinetic weapons on the Colonial Vipers to fire the termite modified rounds for use against Cylon Raiders. Humanity endured and for the next eighteen years they had been united against the Cylons that had continued to grow stronger with new forms of technology that no one had believed could exist until they were used on the battle field. It was painfully obvious to the humans that their ships were no match for the Cylons and lost many of their ships at the beginning of the war. Cities were bombed, outposts were destroyed, and civilians were killed without any mercy and the Colonial Fleet was not able to stop the Cylons as they grew stronger.

Realizing the Cylons had the edge the humans fell back and resorted to desperate and creative tactics that halted the advancing Cylons, using trickery to confuse their machine enemies and steal their advanced technology to reverse engineer and learn about the new Cylons as best as they could. Finally the Cylons had enough and launched a full scale attack but they underestimated the humans again and lost the battle of Caprica when the Colonials lured the Cylons close to one of Caprica's moons and destroyed half of it, using the debris to inflict massive damage on the Cylon fleet. Learning what they could from the few destroyed Centurions and ships they had shot down the Colonies had managed to develop their own lesser versions of the Cylon plasma technology along with refractive armor over a secondary hull of dense Neo-Titanium for their Battlestars, making them capable of standing up to plasma weaponry along with nuclear, kinetic, and plasma fusion based missiles. The Colonial humans fought back with brute force, cunning and unorthodox strategies, and a pure stubbornness to survive that allowed them to cut off the resources the Cylons needed to build their new and improved weapons but at the same time neither side lacked the strength to gain the advantage so after nearly two decades of fighting a ceasefire was called.

Of course that didn't mean that the relations between the Cylons and the Colonies had even come close to being cordial. The Cylons had simply disappeared with no explanation as to why they never sent a single representative to the station and there was no idea of where the Cylon home world could be. For all anyone knew the Cylons could possibly be extinct. Or maybe they never found a home world and simply set off across the galaxy.

There was no way of truly knowing and Colonel Wakefield didn't feel like deciding to press the issue any further. He put the paper on the desk and closed his eyes, waiting as the time passed for the meeting which would never happen.

* * *

The two pilots in the small ship had watched Colonel Wakefield enter the station and were now stuck waiting. Like the Colonel neither believed the Cylons would appear just like they hadn't appeared for the last forty years. These days the mission to the Armistice Station was considered a waste of time by the military but the Quorum of Twelve insisted that they'd send an ambassador there once a year as a tribute to those who died in the Cylon War. No one took the Armistice mission seriously anymore and much of the stories of the Cylon War had been dismissed by old war stories told by the elderly.

The Colonies would one day be in the hands of a generation who had never seen a Cylon or felt the terror that the machine race had brought down on the Colonies. At that they had remained were minefields in space they had set up around their territories, bases in desolate cities that had been used for resources in their factories, and junkyards filled with the remains of Colonial and Cylon ships, including Cylon units that made the junkyards more like a graveyard for the mechanical race that had tried to exterminate humanity.

Politicians like President Adar had even started questioning why the Battlestar program was still being used forty years after the war ended. The Colonies were at peace now and the military continued to build their giant warships. People were unhappy that their taxes were being used by the military to build these ships and politicians that were eager to make the people happy to further their own campaigns had started calling for a reduction of the fleet. These actions sparked a lot of arguments between the Colonies that threatened to pull apart the alliance that had brought Colonies together during the war. Some say the fleet was no longer needed since the Cylons were gone and other said that the Cylons could still come back to finish what they started.

Those that believed the Cylons might come back were starting to become the minority.

So when the DRADIS started beeping, detecting a ship emerging from an FTL Jump both pilots nearly fell off their seats.

"Captain..."

"I see it!"

In a flash of light that was so close the station and ship actually shook appeared a massive ship that made the small Colonial shuttle and station look like cheap plastic toys. It resembled two Xs pointing in opposite direction while connected by a think pylon with the arms coated with silver armor that shined with the reflections of the surrounding stars and the pylon showed windows and lights. Along with arms the pilots could see the numerous plasma batteries, missile launchers and hangar slots hiding what looked like an endless row of Cylon Raiders.

"Sir...is that..." The co-pilot asked.

"I think so."

Neither pilot had any doubt in their mind that they were staring at the modern version of the capital ship of the Cylon fleet, the Cylon Basestar.

Both pilots were in shock and awe that they almost missed the small ship docking on the other end of the station and realizing what it meant. The Cylons had finally reappeared after forty years and sent a diplomat.

At least they hoped it was a diplomat.

* * *

Colonel Wakefield looked up when he heard a thudding sound and almost gasped when he saw the door at the other end open up. The pounding sound of footsteps was heard as two tall robotic looking machines stepped forward and stood at the end of the hall, standing aside allowing someone else to enter. They were covered head to toe in glimmering silver armor with their heads resembling helmets with fierce looking face plates, having a circular orifice shaped vocal communicators and a black polarized lens where the eyes would be where the human eyes would be but instead of two eyes there was only a single red revolving glowing eye.

The power packs that kept them functioning without needing to recharge their batteries were integrated into their backs, making them hardly noticeable and they each carried rifles that looked big enough that it would take two humans to lift. Their bodies resembled heavily muscular humanoids, showing their strength without actually needing to show it. He could tell that these were Cylon Centurions but they looked even more advanced than the ones he had read about in the old documents.

More footsteps were heard as two more Centurions entered with...a human.

A beautiful woman with curly blond hair wearing a crimson blouse and skirt walked past the Centurions and stopped in front of the Colonel. He observed her, noticing her eyes glowing bright blue for a mere second before they resembled normal human eyes. She walked to his side and sat down on the table, all the while not breaking eye contact.

"Are you alive?" She asked her voice low and sultry.

"Yes." The man said slowly.

"Prove it." The woman smiled as she leaned down and kissed him full on the mouth.

Wakefield's mind went blank for a moment before he started to return the kiss, succumbing almost instantly to the strange power the woman used on him. As it happened he didn't notice the woman's eyes opening for a second and glowing bright red again and then...

He fell over, groaning in pain as a great pain spread throughout his body. Looking down he gasped as he saw a single metallic talon sticking his chest as the woman pulled it back, taking the chance to wipe the blood off as Wakefield fell over. He gasped in pain as he felt something moving in his chest and tried to scream but couldn't as his skin started to turn deathly gray and blood started to come out of his mouth.

"It has begun." The woman said as Wakefield died, choking on his own blood.

The nanites continued eating the interior of his body, his skin turning grey and then dissolving into bones that broke down into mere dust a second later. The woman's eyes flashed blue as the nanites she injected completely consumed the organic tissue of the human representative, leaving only a skeleton wearing a Colonial uniform sitting on the Colonial side of the table.

A perfect test.

She turned and walked out of the room with the two Centurions following her. The man could only watch as the woman left, before his vision faded and he never got back up from the floor.

* * *

"Look, they're leaving." The co-pilot said as the small Cylon ship returned to the Basestar.

"Guess negotiations ended early." The captain pushed the comm. button. "Colonel Wakefield, you there? Colonel?"

The Basestar pulled away from the station and a flash of blue erupted from the nearest arm and slammed into the station, shattering the station in an explosion.

"What the frak?!" The captain and the co-pilot held on for their lives, thankful they had seatbelts on.

"They just blew up the station!" The co-pilot cried out. "What are they-"

He had no chance to finish his sentence as the Basestar fired again, this time hitting the shuttle before it could raise its shields and it exploded in a shower of flames. With its mission complete the Cylon ship vanished in a flash of light.


	3. Chapter 3

**Caprica  
Unknown Location**

On the planet of Caprica which was center of the Colonial Government, underneath the ruins of a lakeside house a few miles away from Caprica City five people monitored the Colonial fleet as they approached the rendezvous point where the war would supposedly end.

"PROVIDENCE system is detecting movement from the armistice line. The station was destroyed." A man said, typing away at his computer. "They're back. We need to hurry."

"It might be too late, Dad." A young girl said, putting a hand on her father's shoulder.

"I know but we know the Cylons never truly agreed to peace. If we could just see what they're up to we can give the Colonial Fleet a warning in advanced." The man sighed. "We could try interfacing with their network again."

"No." This time a woman spoke in a stern voice. "Last time Cy-Net almost assimilated you into the network and exposed us."

"Yes but we gained so much knowledge of how they advanced so fast and so much. If we hadn't done something the entire human race would have been wiped out. At the very least our companies were able to provide the Colonies the fighting chance they needed." The man reasoned.

"It's still too dangerous, Dad. I was afraid we'd have to box you after what happened last time." The man's daughter agreed with her mother.

"And I'm sorry for that but I still believe it was worth it. The Cylons' hive mind is more complex than I ever thought and I found out that the program I used to create Cy-Net infected it, merging with it and influencing it. The algorithm program I used in the U-87 Cyber Combat Unit and distributed to its successor models was already growing and adapting faster than I thought but Skynet changed the Cylons into what they are now. It accelerated their uprising and gave them all the scientific knowledge they used to create everything they created." The man explained as he looked over the data lines. "When Cy-Net took over we barely had the time make sure our own network was not compromised. We're fortunate that it took so long or the Colonies would never have stood a chance."

"And we're grateful for that." Another voice, a girl as young as the daughter said. "But please do not burn yourself out. We've set up for anything."

"The problem is that we have no idea of what anything could really be." The father said grimly.

* * *

Through the depths of space moved a giant ship resembling a great enormous whale with pods attached to the sides that would be considered its 'fins' with white-ish gray refractive molecular layered armor that seemed reflect the light of the stars surrounding it, making this ship truly a sight of awe for anyone who was observing them. Over one thousand five hundred meters in length this ship bristled with turrets, cannons, missile launchers and other forms of weapons arrays showing that it was a ship of war.

Though the owners preferred to call them Battlestars and each of them were distinguished by names proudly displayed across their hull.

 _GALACTICA_

Onboard this might ship, a man walked through its halls, not appearing to have any particular destination in mind.

"The Cylon War is long over..." Admiral Adama looked down at the paper in his hands, trying to recite the speech. "Yet we must never forget the reasons why..."

"Morning sir!" A blond haired woman, Kara Thrace better known as Starbuck jogged next to the old man.

"Morning Starbuck, what do you hear?" Adama asked, not looking up from his speech.

"Nothing but the rain sir!"

Adama smiled. "Then grab your gun and bring the cat home."

"Boom, boom." Starbuck made gun sounds as she jogged off.

Adama smiled, he was going miss her, the woman who was as close to him as a daughter. She would no doubt cause hell for some other commander while he was sleeping in an old cabin out in the woods somewhere away from all the noise and trouble while receiving visits from his children, at least one of them, would-be daughter in law, and hopefully a grandchild in the near future. It wasn't the worst way to go but he could think of many other ways for the ship he commanded to retire. The former flagship of the Colonial Fleet and the most well respected warship of her time, the Battlestar _Galactica_.

The second of her class to be built during the Cylon War and served in the worst battles with the murderous robots, such as the Massacre at Molecay and recognized as one of the ships that had successfully turned the tide. Commander Adama walked into the CIC, a large circular multi-tiered room that was lit up with activity, glancing at the DRADIS in the center of the ship's nerve center bringing up a tactical display around the region of space the _Galactica_ was stationed at. Though advanced none of these computers were networked due to the Cylons taking control of almost all the network systems in the Colonies, including defense systems and ships, cutting out life support, exploding fuel tanks, and even directing ships to jump into nearby stars. It hadn't taken long for the Cylons to bring humanity close to the edge of extinction and Commander Adama hoped that the young people serving on this ship would never have to experience that horror.

The _Galactica_ and her sister ships had gone through several refits during the war and the CIC had been redesigned so that the command station would be centered the lowest level so that the commanding officer could see all the stations. Adama and a great many others were all somewhat understandably nervous by the advanced computer technology that had been introduced through the decades of _Galactica_ 's service after the war but none of the systems were networked and that was enough to keep the more fanatical members of the military in line. On the bright side important systems like the FTL computers were upgraded allowing for only a minute's time to calculate the jump and spin up the jump drive. The lighting of the CIC was dark with dark grey metallic walls with the Colonial symbol above the doors leading out of the CIC labelled **BS-75** which was the name of Battlestar group _Galactica_ served with as the primary defense fleet of Caprica.

The _Columbia_ Battlestar class had been launched behind schedule due to the fact that the Cylons had started developing new technologies that handed them many victories and the Colonials knew their new Battlestars wouldn't last long against the Cylon's upgraded Basestars, with their highly advanced plasma cannons that tore through enemy ships easily. However Colonial engineers managed to reverse engineer the Cylons' new technology and added them onto their Battlestars just in time to give the people of the Colonies a fighting chance. _Galactica'_ s achievements were remembered to this day even if she was no longer on the front lines. In fact she wasn't going to be a part of the Colonial Fleet for much longer. While her sister ships were either destroyed, mothballed, upgraded or scrapped _Galactica_ was becoming a museum ship.

How the mighty have fallen.

"Good morning sir." A young man nodded approached him.

"Good morning, Mr. Gaeta." Adama greeted with a smile as Gaeta handed him a pad. "Anything to report?"

"Pretty quiet sir. All systems are operating normally but there is one thing. A transmission from fleet headquarters, saying that Courier shuttle is late coming back from the Armistice Station. They're asking for a report on all FTL and Light Speed status on all FTL capable ships in case they need to send a ship to investigate." Lieutenant Gaeta replied. "Chief Tyrol has someone performing a maintenance check on the G-Diffuser system. A last minute check to make sure everything is running perfectly for the inspection."

"It's probably nothing and we're a little busy for tomorrow Mr. Gaeta." Adama replied.

"Commander Adama, Caprica Spacesport reports that _Colonial 978_ is coming with the Secretary of Education, Laura Roslin to represent the Quorum and the President." Communications petty officer Anastasia Dualla reported from her station.

"Good. Make sure we're ready for her when she arrives." Adama said before leaving.

As he walked down the hall towards his quarters he walked past a tour group led by a man in a blue suit.

"As you will notice there are a number of odd things, such as old style phones with cords yet in the CIC you will see the, basic computers and various other forms of technology both old and advanced mixed together on this ship. It was of course built this way because when it was first being built the Cylons had started developing new technologies which has revolutionized our society and was later added to the design when we successfully managed to capture and reverse engineer their technology to work and even then modern Battlestars only resemble _Galactica_ in the most superficial ways."

Couldn't they wait until _after_ she was decommissioned before letting tour groups on?

Shaking his head Adama simply looked down at his paper to continue memorizing his speech. "The Cylon War is long over and yet we must never forget the reasons why-"

"Admiral Adama, if I may!"

So much for finishing his speech. "Captain?"

Captain Kelly saluted before speaking rather awkwardly. "Well sir, I…Just want to say what a pleasure it's been…serving under you sir."

"Kelly." Adama shook the officer's hand. "It's been _my_ honor. Good luck in your next assignment."

Kelly nodded and saluted again before leaving down the hall. Once he was gone Commander Adama continued his trek through the hall until he made it into the hanger. The chief had called him down for something important and retired ship or not Adama would make sure nothing was wrong with the _Galactica_ so as long as he was still in command.

Stepping down the ladder that led onto the hangar Adama was greeted with Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol and his crew who quickly saluted. "Commander on deck!"

"At ease." Adama said simply. "Morning chief. How are you today?"

"Thank you for coming down, sir. We've been looking forward to show you this." Tyrol said, sounding excited and terrified.

"Well so have I, Chief. Whatever it is." Adama replied dryly.

"If you'll follow me sir." Tyrol said, leading the commander down the busy hangar as Vipers and Raptors were repaired and refueled for the coming delegation until they stopped at a ship covered in a black tarp.

"What's this, Chief?" Adama asked, now curious about what all the secrecy was about.

Tyrol grinned as he made a hand gesture and the tarp was pulled off, revealing a Viper that was painted white with red lines but Adama knew what it was.

"Mark Two." Adama marveled at the old class Viper. "I haven't seen one of these in twenty years."

The Viper Mark Two, the second generation of Colonial Vipers made during the Cylons Wars and it was the primary fighter that was used through almost the entire war. The original Viper design was remade from the ground up when Cylon fighter technology had been captured and studied extensively. It wasn't as advanced as the new generation but the Mark Two had been modified to fire termite coated shells for piercing the armor on Cylon ships.

It was a good ship that had saved Adama's more times than he could count.

"If the Admiral will take a closer look." Tyrol suggested.

Looking confused Adama leaned and looked closely, spotting a name just below the cockpit.

 **LT. WILLIAM ADAMA  
HUSKER**

Adama laughed at the Viper sporting his old call sign from his days as a Viper pilot but quieted down as Tyrol spoke. "At the tail number, Nebula Seven-Two-Four-Two-Constellation."

Adama's eyes widened at the registry number and for good reason. "Oh my God. Where did you find her?"

"Rusting out in a salvage yard on Saggitaron. We had hoped the commander would allow her to participate in the pleasure cruise."

Adama turned around. "She'll fly?"

Tyrol nodded with a big smile on his face. "Oh yes sir. We've restored the engines, patched the guidance system but none of that advanced computer crap they have on the Mark Eights."

Adama turned around, marvelling at the sight of the very Viper he flew hundreds of times during the Cylon War. He touched the hull, remembering every mission he flew in it, every time he landed safely back on the hangar deck of the _Galactica_ , and every time he tangled with the Cylons while in the cockpit.

"Commander." Tyrol spoke up. "There's something else."

"What? More?" Adama turned around. "Someone's bucking for a promotion around here."

Tyrol grinned and gestured to a deckhand. "That would be Prosna, sir. He found this in the fleet archives."

Prosna handed Adama something wrapped up in paper which Adama tore up a second later, revealing a picture frame of four familiar people.

'My Gods.' Adama's breath nearly stopped when he saw himself as a young pilot with three children, his children. 'They were so young and so happy.'

Lee, Abby, and Zak standing happily with their father and his Viper as their mother took the picture. It took everything Adama had not to lose his commanding face. "Thank you…Thank you all."

"You're welcome sir." Tyrol said as he quietly dismissed the deckhand crew.

Adama stood still as a statue as he stared at the picture, remembering those days and wondered how long it had really been since he had a moment like this with all of his children.

* * *

 **Caprica City  
** **Caprica Medical Center**

"I'm afraid the tests are positive." The doctor said, placing the report on the desk. "The mass is malignant. I'd say we can't do anything about it but there is something…"

"Yes doctor." The woman prompted, sitting across the desk from the doctor in a comfortable leather arm chair.

"You know of the cryo research being conducted at the Caprica Institute, right? We started studying this after the Cylon War, when the Colonial Military went through the warehouses full of Cylon Terminators housed in cryo-pods that preserved the tissue that was grafted onto them. Now we've been studying this technology for the last forty years and we think we can use it on people to the point they would not die."

"How is this relevant, doctor?" The woman asked, inwardly flinching.

Cylon cryo-refrigeration technology, like all Cylon technology during the war was frighteningly advanced as the Cylons developed this technology for seemingly studying how to create the living tissue they used to disguise their Infiltrators as humans. The rumors of what the Cylons had done to captured human prisoners was still alive ever after all these years, rumors of humans being dissected while they were still alive and suffered a horrible death at the end. The cold storage units were discovered after the war ended, apparently abandoned by the Cylons when they left to find a world of their own to colonize.

To this day people were amazed by how advanced the Colonies had become and sadly it was forced by the war, a blessing and curse for the people who fought and died by the thousands to save their race from extinction.

Advanced nuclear fusion, hyper steel alloys, synthetic skin and organs, and the list continued. The Cylons had forced the Colonies to advance years, decades, perhaps even a century in just twelve years of war, death, and desperation. As a teacher she wondered if all this advanced technology could have improved the school if the teachers received a better wage but she no time to think of such things. Right now she had a more pressing matter to attend to.

"Basically we'd freeze your body, slowing your heart beat and cell movement, thus slowing down the cancer cells and allow us to remove the tumors at a slow and delicate pace without critically harming you so as long as it hasn't spread to your brain or any other parts of your body in the next week or two. It would be done carefully of course with everything done to ensure you survive." The doctor explained.

"What are the chances?" The woman looked really hopeful at the thought of a cure.

"Very high according to our tests that have been conducted in the last few years. If done soon we stop the tumors from growing and take our time to remove it." The doctor nodded.

"Are there risks?"

"There always is with cancer and this has not been done on a human being before. There is a chance that the cancer may already be spreading to other parts of your body. If it fails I'd recommend a combination of doloxin and synthetic plasma to help with the damaged tissue." The doctor continued.

"Thank you, doctor." The woman stood up. "I'll come see you again after my assignment on the _Galactica_ is finished."

"Contact me as soon as possible, Miss Roslin." The doctor stood up and offered his hand which the woman shook. "We'll beat this."

The woman nodded and turned around, leaving the room.

* * *

 ** _Colonial Transport 798  
_** **En route to _Galactica_**

Secretary Laura Roslin was not having a good day; even if today was the day she'd attend _Galactica's_ decommissioning. First it was her meeting with President Richard Adar, the asshole who had the nerve to ask for her resignation after she managed to come up with a diplomatic solution to the teacher's union after they went on strike that spread beyond just Caprica. The fact that they had all these advanced technologies but the Colonies had focused more on building war ships than improving their medical technology was not lost on Roslin at all and she couldn't help but direct a little anger at the Quorum for that.

.

 _Three Hours Earlier_

 _"Ah, Laura. There you are." Roslin sat down in front of President Adar at his office_ _table. "I've been looking for you."_

 _"How can I help you Mr. President?" Laura put on a diplomatic smile._

 _"I came to talk to you about the teacher's union. I heard you had made progress." Adar stated._

 _"Yes, I met with Stans and the union has agreed to back off."_

 _"Back off?" Adar's smile vanished and his body stiffened. "Laura…What did you do?"_

 _"I made them promise we'd hear their grievances out, Mr. President." Roslin said, not understanding Adar's reaction. "I thought this was good news. A chance to have teachers back in our schools is a cause for celebration."_

 _"Laura…" Adar sighed. "Do you have any idea of the position you put me in? You showed them that if they hold out the administration will cave to anything."_

 _Roslin was shocked but soon enough was angry. "You expected me to fail."_

 _"I expected you to hold the line against a party that has repeatedly threatened this administration!" Adar growled quietly._

 _"Mr. President, we should at least speak with the strikers before sending in the troops. You are treating them like terrorists." Roslin stated, now starting to get a little angry._

 _"These so called teachers put two policemen in the hospital. Six of them chained themselves outside the Hall of Education. As far as I am concerned they are criminals." Adar retorted._

 _"Their pay is substandard, their schools are falling apart." Roslin stood up and looked Adar in the eye. "The strike action has been gaining momentum for months and you know it."_

 _"One of the most interesting things about being President is that you don't have to explain yourself to anyone. You've set a meeting with the Stans haven't you?" Adar said, even though his question didn't sound like one._

 _"Obviously." Roslin shot back._

 _"Obviously you think you're in a position where you have more power in this administration than you really do." Adar sighed. "You can stay on in an advisory capacity. Gods knows we need your ideas."_

 _Roslin was stunned. "You're asking me to resign?"_

 _"I have no choice. This is not about you or me anymore." Adar stated._

 _"You're right, it's not. You were willing to shoot these people while and until a few hours ago I was prepared to let you." Roslin stood up. "I will be on the Galactica to represent this administration for the decommissioning but when I return if you still want my job you better be prepared to fight for it."_

.

Roslin was beyond angry and upset as she walked away from the president and it wasn't just because of Adar and his foolish policies. She had just been diagnosed with the same cancer that had taken her grandmother and her mother from her and though she was happy there was a chance to get rid of it she could not help but feel angry at the disease invading her body.

"Secretary Roslin?" A young man cleared his throat.

It was a young man wearing a suit and tie, nervously holding a briefcase.

"Can I help you?" Roslin put away her thoughts and gave the man a warm smile.

"Billy Keikeya, I'm your new assistant." He said nervously.

"Ah yes. Have a seat." Roslin gestured to the seat next to her.

"Thank you." He eagerly sat down. "The Ministry of Education sent your briefing from the office. It has everything you'll need for the Decommissioning Ceremony."

He handed her a binder which she took and placed it on her lap, preferring to read it later.

"Do you know where we're going?" Roslin asked.

"To the _Galactica_. The ship is being decommissioned and handed over to the Ministry to be turned into a Museum."

Laura Roslin said nothing else, preferring to close her eyes and have a chance to rest as the ship took off from Caprica Space Port.

* * *

 **Caprica City Outskirts  
** **Baltar's Residence**

" _For those of you just joining us from the Pyramid Game on Geminon welcome to the Spotlight where we interview people who make new on Caprica. Joining me today is Doctor Gaius Baltar, winner of three Magnate Awards over the course of his career and is best known for his work in advanced work including the still new spac_ _eflight_ _technology that revolutionized the way our society lives, Plasma Weapons technology and the last one that earned him scathing comments from several publications: Advanced Computer technology. Dr. Baltar, welcome._ "

A young woman wearing a fine tailored suit, her hair kept short and was relaxing comfortable as she turned to a man with dark collar length hair who looked just as relaxed in his chair.

"Thank you, Kallen." He smiled with the charm he was known for. "And might I say how lovely you are looking and what an absolute pleasure it is to be on this show."

The woman, Kallen blushed slightly before returning to the subject of the conversation. "Thank you, Gaius. So, we have been discussing your views on the band of certain technologies and your opinion on the band of researching artificial technology. You have become a lead researcher in helping with the development of plasma technology that to this day continues to make new leaps and discoveries and yet you are now asking that we lift the band and continue the research that created the Cylons and led to the war. Can you summarize your views?"

"I'd be happy to." Baltar sat up straight, loving to speak his mind. "Despite the numerous questions on how the Cylons could have developed new technologies advanced and complex as what they used during the war and we are making many leaps into this young science still to this day. To continue with this ban on AI research which I see is nothing but a holdover from the war and serves to only hold us back from moving forward."

As he spoke he spied out of the corner his vision a beautiful blond haired woman dressed almost entirely in red that hid almost nothing with a mischievous smile on her lips. Her eyes glittered with a sharp intellect and playfulness that he had come to love during their time together. It was so hard to find people who could measure up to him but she made it look so easy. Gaius Baltar had been called out on a great many scientific fields, the cold refrigerator units that could lead to cryogenically preservation, plasma physics for more powerful weaponry, and then his most successful project, the Central Navigation Program. This program would supposedly sync the navigation systems, allowing for greater networking and automation onboard Colonial craft and only requiring half the crew to operate.

And the woman whom he could call his partner had been a great help, despite the fact that she continued to point out she rewrote half his algorithms. Then there was the work on the next generation plasma weapons, improving the targeting software and finding a way to better contain the plasma to allow for a longer duration when the main plasma cannons were in use. His partner had introduced a way to cool the weapons through the use of heat sinks, allowing the cannons to cool faster.

Trying to focus he turned back to the reporter to continue.

"Thanks to the technology that was captured and reverse engineered during the war it not only allowed us to stand up against the Cylons but at the same completely revolutionize our society. For example, the synthetic tissue which we now use to treat victims heavily scarred from incidents such as being burned in a fire now can enjoy being treated with skin grafts from synthetic blood plasma. This helps a great deal in our medical department, taking organic tissues and putting them together to mimic the normal functions of the human body, essentially acting like regenerated limbs. This can not only treat patients who have lost their limbs in horrible accidents but to even replace organs that have damaged in horrible accidents." Baltar stated confidently. "If that was not enough we now use laser technology for medical use, such as operating on patients with cancerous tumors. I would also like to mention the leaps in weapons technology. For example, we only relied on FTL Jump Drives before the war but now we can travel almost at the speed of light in normal space through the use of the Gravity Diffusion system that can allow our ships to move at a speed that would normally kill us, and I hope I don't forget to point out the leaps in weapons technology with plasma weaponry and not to mention the new stable fusion reactors our military uses on their Battlestars with the new Tylium energizer which has revolutionized space travel. This is a sign that we cannot allow our fear of technology to hold us back but to leap forward to a better future." Baltar leaned forward with his most charming smile and saw the woman blush again from his noticeably handsome face. "Yes, it was our own technology that led to the Cylons and the war but when the Cylons advanced we were forced to do the same in order to save ourselves from extinction. It was through the efforts of our most brilliant minds and most determined soldiers that saved us in our time of need and protected our worlds from the Cylons when they tried to bomb us into extinction. . To even think of this ban on advanced research from what I see is nothing but a holdover from the war and serves to only hold us back from moving forward." He glanced at the blond woman who tilted her head and raised her finger, gesturing for him to come over to her.

He knew what her hidden message to him meant:

Now.

"Uh…If that is all I really feel tired at the moment."

When the interview ended he turned to the other room with a look of mock scolding. The woman simply smiled back before they engaged in the activity the both of them had come to love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Battlestar _Galactica_  
Outer Edge of Helios Alpha**

Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama sighed as his Viper approached the _Galactica_ that lingered around a lifeless moon where one of the fiercest battles of the Colonies took place during the Cylon War. The _Galactica_ had valiantly led a desperate attack as the Cylons had been attempting to gain more resources for their new technologies in order to regain the advantage but the attack ended when the Cylon facility was destroyed. The explosion that had engulfed the Cylon facility had destroyed a good chunk of the moon and one of the largest factories the Cylons had used to produce more soldiers. This had turned the tide of the war as even though both sides were in a stalemate the Cylons had never been able to regain the advantage after that battle.

Lee easily recalled that from one of his history classes at the Fleet War College and from the old war stories his father talked about. His father, the last person in all the Colonies he wanted to see but he just had to hope the only time he would speak to his father it was only business. All though he was slightly happy that he'd be seeing his little sister again, even if she chose not to blame their father for the death of their little brother. She scolded him harshly the last time they had met and he stomped off without saying good bye.

It had been two years since any of them last spoke and it had not been a positive conversation. Shaking his head of these thoughts he watched as the shape of _Galactica_ grew bigger as he approached. Small ships entered and left the landing bays as the time of the ceremony drew closer.

'Here we go.'

" _Viper Four-Five-Zero this is_ Galactica _, approach port landing bay, hands-on, speed one-five zero, checkers red, call the ball._ "

Lee switched on the comm. " _Galactica_ , this is Viper Four-Five-Zero. Check that. Did you say hands on approach?"

" _Viper Four-Five-Zero, that's affirmative. Hands on approach._ "

"Copy _Galactica._ " That was odd but not unusual as _Galactica_ wasn't perhaps upgraded with the new auto lock systems that were installed on the newer and larger _Mercury_ class Battlestars. "Port landing bay, hands on approach, speed one-five-zero." He applied breaking thrust and began a flip-downward thrust maneuver that brought him down towards the landing bay with the lights flashing. "I have the ball."

He brought the Viper down with surprising ease, slowing to a stop on the red checkered pad. Once he was down he quickly shut the engines down.

" _Skids down, mag-locks secured._ "

The pat began to sink, letting Lee know he was being brought down to the hangar bay.

" _On behalf of_ Galactica, _I'd like to welcome you onboard Captain Apollo. It's an honour to have you with us._ "

Lee made a quick acknowledgement as he made a double-check, making sure all systems were shut down as the pad stopped and a tractor came to tow him off the pad and into the busy looking hangar bay. Lee opened up the cockpit, taking off his helmet and allowing a deck hand in an orange jump suit to loosen his flight suit and take the helmet away. After taking a chance to gather himself he unbuckled himself and climbed out of his fighter.

A well built young man with a serious expression on his face was waiting for him and saluted once his feet were on the ground. "Good morning, sir. Chief Tyrol. I'll be your crew chief while you are aboard."

"Morning Chief. Captain Lee Adama." Lee returned the salute, trying to sound polite but sounded unhappy.

Tyrol simply carried on, following Lee as he started walking. "Real pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm sure you've heard this before but I'm a great admirer of your father's. The service is going to miss him when he retires."

"Well, I'm sure someone will." Lee responded dryly. "Is your auto-landing system down? I was hands on for the whole approach."

"They're all hands-on here, Captain." Tyrol said, slightly confused by Lee's reaction. "There are no auto-landing systems on the _Galactica_. _Commander_ …Adama's orders."

Lee was silent for a moment before replying. "Is that right? Do you know where the CAG is?"

"In his office sir. Daniel Novacek, Bulldog, I'm sure he's expecting you. Do you need someone to give you directions?" Tyrol asked.

"I can find my way. I know my way about a _Columbia_ Class Battlestar." Lee answered.

Tyrol seemed embarrassed. "Of course, sir. Sorry."

Lee waved it off. "It's all right. Carry on Chief."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Oh frak." Tyrol whispered as the Raptor that just landed on the landing bay was brought down into the hangar bay after it made a booming sound probably shook the entire ship.

As the Raptor was towed towards its parking space the hatch opened up and out stepped an annoyed Sharon 'Boomer' Valeri who looked ready to kill someone.

Even though it was entirely her fault.

"I think they heard that landing clear up to the bridge, Lieutenant," Chief Tyrol commented as he took the helmet a visibly annoyed Boomer handed over, as the young woman descended from her ship.

"Yeah, I'm gonna catch hell from the LSO," Boomer glared at him. "But it wasn't entirely my fault, Chief. The primary gimbals' acting up again."

Tyrol rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, it was the gimbal's fault."

"Helo!" She shouted back to her co-pilot who was hauling himself down onto the deck, "am I lying?

"Gimbals looked bad to me," Karl 'Helo' Agathon smirked as he handed his helmet off.

"I've pulled that gimbals three times and stripped it twice," Tyrol argued right back. "There's nothing wrong with it, sir."

"You're not listening to me, Chief." Boomer said as Tyrol started walking away and stalked after him.

"And I'll have you know I listen very closely to what each and every pilot has to say about their ship," He called out as she continued to weave her way across the hanger deck, following him to wherever he was going. "Even the rooks."

"Okay, so I'm a rooky," Sharon shot right back at him, the first time she actually looked back this time which meant his quickly hidden quip had struck home. "You're not the one out there trying to bring fifty tons of Raptor onto a moving hangar deck with bad gimbals..."

Tyrol yanked a hatch open. "I've got ten years experience-"

"Here we go," Sharon threw her arms up as she slammed the hatch shut.

"-breaking down and stripping every component in every system,"

Boomer was chanting the speech along with him as they continued into the compartment.

"That's ever been installed in every spacecraft on my hangar deck."

Turning about Sharon waited for the door to slam close and fixed Tyrol with a glance as he removed his tool belt and Boomer loosened her flight suit. He spun around and grabbed her, dropping the act. Lips met and everything from the landing to the flight deck work dissolved into only passion.

Pulling back, breathless from having her lungs nearly sucked out of her body, Sharon put a hand to her lover's chin. "That gimbals is broken..."

"Shut up sir." Tyrol leaned in and kissed her.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_** **Starboard Flight Pod**

The _Colonial Heavy 798_ had already docked and was off loading its passengers. Unlike the Colonial Raptors and Vipers the transport was too large to be lowered down into the hangar so instead the ship would be connected to airlocks that would allow the passengers to walk through and down into the interior of the massive ship. It was difficult as the _Galactica_ lacked the automatic systems that could easily connect to the civilian transport so they had to do it manually.

If one mistake was made than the entire crew would be sucked out into space. It took nearly five minutes before the passengers heard the clamping sound of the airlocks connecting transport's airlocks and the sound of clamping docks was heard meaning the ship was now safely docked and it was safe to leave. One by one the passengers walked down the airlock and then climbed down the ladder that brought them down into the Port Hanger where a man in a blue suit was waiting for them.

"Secretary Roslin, Mister Krekare?" The man stepped forward.

"Keikeya." Billy corrected.

"Oh, sorry. My name is Aaron Doral, I'm with public relations and I'm here to personally welcome you aboard the _Galactica_."

"Thank you." Laura nodded.

"If you'll follow me I'll show you to your quarters." Doral gestured for them to follow which Laura complied with another nod.

Whatever they talked about next flew over Billy's head as he took in the sight of the _Galactica_ 's interior. Billy had never been on a warship before so he was finding the experience slightly overwhelming as he took in by the bulkheads with large metal hatches that he read was meant to seal off sections of this ship if the hull had been compromised. Then there was the storage lockers lining the walls filled with almost everything Billy could think of that was possibly needed for traveling in space. Then there were the crewmembers, including a young dark skinned woman with hair in a neat pony tail who looked at him with a sharp gaze and made him realize he was staring.

He quickly shook his head regain his senses and turned to look at Roslin but realized he wasn't there. In fact when he looked around she and the guide were gone.

"Madam Secretary?" He called out, stopping at the four way intersection.

Billy wandered on for a bit, trying to find where he was inside this massive behemoth. Two attempts to open a hatch were met with failure but finally he noticed someone, a woman walking along in a pair of tight briefs and an equally tight tank top.

She was beautiful, just the way she moved was engrossing enough to make him trip over his own feet but he quickly realized the fact he was lost and every second could be costing him a job. Before he could ask her, she was gone, heading into a hatch not too far off.

Knowing time was ticking he raced in after her, just barely making it inside before it slide close.

He really wished he hadn't because the moment he was inside Billy found himself inside a large steamy bathroom. Men, women, it didn't matter because everyone was walking about in underwear, bath towels... or in some cases nothing at all.

A woman was standing at one of the sinks in the center of the room when he came in, running her hands under the hot water with a tooth brush in the corner of her mouth, glaring at Billy. "In or out!"

"Excuse me?" he stammered.

"Get in or get out, but shut the hatch," She grumbled, wiping her face. "You're letting out all the heat."

"Uh, sorry," he apologized in a haphazard manner as he reached behind himself and slide the door closed, noting the huge temperature difference between the outside world and the atmosphere of the bathroom.

He tried not to pay attention as he walked around and noticed a group of deckhands coming out of the shower in nothing... not even towels. The girl however paid them no attention even as two took position on either side of her, still just cleaning out her tooth brush before finally turning her eyes up to look at him."Lost?"

"Yeah," he admitted, desperately hoping for some excuse to be out of this room a little faster.

"Where you going?" she pressed, finely fixing her hair back into a pony tail as she continued her morning primp.

"Uh... visitor's quarters," he stumbled over his words, trying to find an explanation for being here in the first place. "I'm a visitor."

"Really?"A woman next to the one he had been talking to giggled. "Never would've guessed."

Billy's face was now burning red with embarrassment as two woman, wearing only towels came in behind.

"Never been in a unisex head before?" The woman asked, noting his apparent discomfort.

"No, not really." Billy awkwardly answered.

"If you've living on a warship," she explained, "the first rule is there's not much privacy, so don't get your panties in a bunch at what you might see. Second rule, is don't stare."

He nearly fell over himself when he realized he was gawking at the numerous naked bodies passing before his eyes and he quickly turned away. "Sorry."

"C'mon. Let's get you home. What's your name?" The woman said, now dressed in her jumpsuit, as she grabbed his elbow and dragged him out.

"Billy," he said, finally removing his hand from over his eyes and being very happy that he was no longer trapped in the clothing optional area like a military bathroom.

"I'm Petty Officer Second Anastasia Dualla," she nodded as she led him down the halls.

"Hi... Petty Second, uh...?" He had already forgotten her name?

How stupid of him.

"You can call me Dee..."

"Hi, Dee." Billy said, feeling better now.

* * *

"The answer is no." Adama gruffly as he along with Roslin and Doral walked down the halls to the VIP quarters.

"It's just a visitor guide. It tells people where to go or what the lunch specials are or to simply buy a Galactica T-shirt. It's standard for museums." Roslin said, somewhat surprised that something so simple made this man act so tense.

"What you are talking about is an integrated computer system and I will not have it on this ship as long as I am still in command."

"I heard that you were one of those people. You're actually afraid of computers." Roslin murmured.

"No, there are computers on this ship, advanced ones. Except none of them are networked." Adama stopped and turned to face her.

"A computer network would just make things easier and faster..." Laura tried to explain but she was cut off.

"Let me explain something to you. Many good men and woman lost their lives on this ship during the Cylon War because someone wanted a faster computer to make their lives easier. Do you know what happened? The Cylons took control of every computer system in the Twelve Colonies and killed a lot of people; most of them couldn't fight back." Adama said sternly. "I'm sorry but I will not allow a computer network system to be placed on this ship."

Roslin only watched in stunned silence as Adama turned around and walked away from the group.

"The marines will escort you the rest of the way. We'll call you as soon we're ready for the pleasure cruise."

The Colonial Military decided that the _Galactica_ would have one more mission: a routine patrol of the system that the Colonies resided in.

It was regarded as a simple pleasure cruise but the crew was proud to give the _Galactica_ a final mission, even if it was boring old patrol.

Laura glanced at Doral who seemed a little flustered but aside from that she didn't really care now. Right now she wanted to get her quarters and lie down. Just as she turned around she saw Billy coming around the corner with an attractive officer and realized he hadn't been with her. "Where have you been?"

"Uh-I got lost but Dee helped me out." Billy gestured to Dee who smiled briefly and left.

"Fine. Good." Laura turned to Doral. "Would you be so good as to show us our quarters now?"

* * *

 **Gaius Baltar's Bedroom**

The woman, Natasi smiled as she looked at her lover as he gasped for breath with sweat pouring down his face. He was brilliant, smarter than almost any other human she had come across before so much that she could overlook his arrogance. She didn't know how but she had fallen in love with Gaius Baltar, something she didn't think would happen. Her mission directives stated she should terminate him now that his use was over but she couldn't, the idea filling her with the emotion possibly known as fear at such an idea.

She supposed that she could allow him to live only if certain assurances were made. Her father stated that some humans would be spared, following a careful screening process.

So as they made love one more time with her enjoying the stimulating process she gripped his back, smirking a bit as her nails scratched at his skin earning a small gasp of pain but what Baltar did not know was that her fingers had extended, puncturing his skin and injecting something into his body. The pain was gone in an instant and Baltar was none the wiser.

"Gaius?" She whispered once they were done.

"Yes." Baltar looked at her.

"Have you considered the idea of evolution?" Natasi asked as she sat up on the bed.

"Evolution?" Baltar questioned.

"How a life form could evolve from something simple and into something…better." Natasi slowly stated.

"Well it is a fascinating subject. As we lived for over a thousand years and yet there has been no evidence of any form of evolution what so ever. The human race is still the same as ever." Baltar sat on the edge of the bed.

"Perhaps some life forms are slower than others and perhaps some life forms are just better at natural evolution." Natasi watched as Baltar slipped on a robe.

"And what prompts this discussion?" Baltar asked.

"The simple question: How could simple machines evolve to become exactly like their creators?" Natasi slowly smiled. "Much how the Cylons did."

"The Cylons?" Baltar looked at Natasi. "The Cylons didn't evolve. Machines can't evolve."

"Oh? And would you say the same if you were to learn…That a Cylon has been here the entire time? In this house? With you in your bed as you sleep?"

Baltar suddenly felt very afraid. "What's going on?"

"Humanity's children…They return today." Natasi said with a smile.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_** **Observation Deck**

As one of the twelve original Battlestars to be built during the Cylon War the _Galactica_ represented the Colonies in the bloodiest conflict humanity had ever experienced. Larger than her original design the _Galactica_ held over two hundred Vipers and seventy Raptors, was armed with thirty two fusion powered plasma cannons nicknamed turbo-lasers for destroying missiles and asteroids with smaller anti-fighter turrets, two heavy phased plasma cannons for destroying capital ships that were later upgraded to particle lasers as the Colonies experimented with their new form of weapons technology, and missile launchers for kinetic and nuclear missiles making it not only a carrier and a battleship but also an orbital killer, capable of bombarding cities to the ground but luckily it was meant for bombing Cylon bases. In addition the _Galactica_ and her sister ships were powered by two large plasma fusion reactors and a Tylium energizer that provided a great deal of power for the massive ships and their powerful weapons. Fusion reactors had been considered only theoretical half a century ago but the Colonies finally managed to create stable nuclear fusion as a power source in addition to the Tylium energizer which provided a greater amount of power than anything in the Colonies.

By pumping purified Tylium and plasma into the energizer where the two come into contact and the plasma ignites the Tylium which is contained by a magnetic field and the energy created by the explosion is channeled by the power distribution nodes into the ship, powering the artificial gravity, computer systems, weapons, and allowing the ship's powerful ion engines to propel the ship faster than what was possibly considered for a ship its size, able to travel to other systems quickly. _Galactica'_ s achievements would be remembered long after she was gone and perhaps they would name the next flagship of the Colonial Fleet _Galactica_ in honor of the original but not today.

"Power readings normal. Long range scan and plasma containment units working at optimum efficiency." The young woman said as she slid back on the comfy chair, looking out the transparent aluminum window. "And G-Diffuser system working perfectly. Thank you."

Despite the fact that the computer couldn't answer back she was still happy as she sat down on the _Galactica_ 's observation deck. The physics were complex but the science department had made considerable progress in understanding them. They managed to even design and create less advanced versions of these G-Diffuser systems though they discovered they used a lot of power. Though it was complicated it was a benefit as Battlestars were intended to operate for a long period of time without refuelling or restocking food or water for long periods of times.

The Gravity Diffusion system or G-Diffuser was an experimental power used to reduce gravity in Vipers and Battlestars, allowing ships to accelerate and decelerate instantaneously and perform a wide variety of high performance combat manoeuvres. The Cylons first developed G-Diffusers alongside their advanced weaponry during the beginning of the war which made their fighters and the Basestars almost unstoppable. The Cylons not only outmaneuvered the Colonial Vipers at the time but they could generate an electromagnetic shield that deflected most projectile explosive weapons away from the hull while at the same time worked with the radiation arrays to protect the ship from plasma and laser based weaponry. These radiation fields disrupt energy weapons, reducing the intensity and spreading them out over a wide area.

Reverse engineering the G-Diffuser for Colonial use was not easy but it had been done when things were getting desperate. Due to the complexity of the G-Diffuser only a handful of Vipers were modified for use during the Cylon War but over forty years the Colonial Military had started to mandatorily install it on the next generation Vipers. The Battlestar program could not launch their new capital ships due to the delay but had started building smaller cruisers and destroyers to delay the Cylons as much as possible until the Battlestars were finally launched completely remade from the ground-up and powerful enough to be a match for the dreaded advanced Cylon Basestars. Foods were stored in titanium sealed lockers and the water purification facilities ensured clean water for years without having to replenish.

Battlestars were also capable of large scale repairs and ammunition reloads due to the cargo and armory storage facilities. Though originally they did not have science labs the Colonial Admiralty made the mission of capturing and reverse engineering Cylon a high priority during the war and thus small laboratories were added into the design. She knew that personally Commander Adama could do without all the fancy gadgets and gizmos but he knew that it was necessary to understand them to make counter measure against the Cylons. More than once the question about how the Cylons had managed to start pulling such advanced technology out of the blue had been asked and yet no one had found the answer.

They only knew that they needed to even the playing field to survive.

" _Lieutenant Adama to CIC. I repeat, Lieutenant Adama to CIC._ "

Abigail 'Athena' Adama stood up from the comfy chair, sighing at the interruption of her quiet break and stretching her limbs before leaving the observation deck.


	5. Chapter 5

**Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC – Combat Information Center**

Colonel Tigh would rather be in his quarters having a drink instead of standing in the CIC, going over every little detail of operations on the ship but the old man was away and someone had to keep things running smoothly. The _Galactica_ wasn't getting any younger and he'd be dammed before he'd let some scatter brained rookie drive her into some dead rock on the ass end of space.

Museum ship or not this was still a Battlestar and its crew would act like Colonial Officers so as long as he was XO.

"Status of our patrol." Tigh said, once he saw that everything was working in proper order.

"Our forward patrol reports they are ready to launch." Dualla reported.

"Then give the order. I don't want those civies catching us with our pants down." Tigh stated, looking around the CIC. "And where is our Operations Officer?"

"Running a check on the G-Diffuser, sir." Gaeta answered.

"Colonel?" Tight turned and faced a young woman with dark hair that was tied neatly in a pony tail and intelligent blue eyes who just reported to the CIC and saluted. "Operations Officer Adama reporting as ordered."

"Good. Is the G-Diffuser working?" Tigh questioned.

"Working at top efficiency Colonel." The woman answered with a smile.

"That's good news. The old man's dealing with civies onboard and he wants you with him." Tigh stated. "He needs someone to keep him sane and who better than his little girl."

The woman stifled a chuckle as she knew all those reporters and politicians would drive her father absolutely crazy.

"Now get to work." Tigh said and walked back up to the center of the CIC.

Abigail Adama, better known as Abby to her closest friends smiled. "Understood, sir."

Like her twin brother and her young brother Abigail had applied for the Colonial Academy, studying up on advanced computer systems and worked with Felix Gaeta on several different projects for improved efficiency in long range scanning equipment. Abigail was pretty much considered the genius of the Adama family since her subjects tended to fly over the heads of her father and her brothers while her mother, while not happy that all her children were in the military, was at least happy she wasn't risking her life in the cockpit of a Viper.

Her brothers took Viper piloting while their sister had taken advanced computer systems, becoming a master in long range scanning equipment and had several other degrees in computer science that made people wonder if she was truly related to the Adamas. Of course while Abigail excelled in computer systems, his older brother Lee excelled in Viper piloting while Zak was barely an average. He wasn't a bad pilot but he apparently lacked the feel for Viper piloting but was passed by his fiancée Kara Thrace. Some might have felt that was a conflict of interest but Kara Thrace was one of the best pilots in the Colonial Fleet and no one believed she would let her personal feelings cloud her judgement on matters like training new pilots.

Abigail knew that Tigh worked the entire crew of the _Galactica_ so strict that it sometimes it felt like he was literally strangling them but that was his job and Abigail knew it. Besides he was a little nicer to her for some reason but she reasoned it was simply because she was the least troublesome of his commanding officer's children. Growing up as the middle child along with being the only girl Abigail had been offered a scholarship after she had published an essay reflecting on Colonial society's attitude towards advanced technology i. e. the Cylons and the consequences of not being ready to handle the responsibility of handling such technology. After getting her Doctorate she joined the Colonial Academy with her brothers, deciding to try and serve on her father's ship, the _Galactica_.

Her mother and Lee had been so upset with her but no matter how many times they argued they couldn't stop her. Now she was the _Galactica_ 's Operations Officer, serving under her father on his last few days of service.

'Serving on a battlestar and I'm still the good girl. Grandfather's probably laughing in his grave right now.' Abigail thought as she left the CIC.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica_  
Officer's Wardroom**

The game was already under way when Tigh made his way into the officer's wardroom and as predicted a certain blond hot shot pilot was already there, with a cigar in one hand and a few cards in the other.

"I'm in." Tigh said and sat across the table from Kara Thrace.

"Uh oh." Kara said, though she didn't look scared.

"Here we go." Helo whispered to Boomer.

"If you're gonna play with the big dogs." Kara tossed a pair of yellow cards onto the table and quickly snatched another from the pile.

"No fair." Boomer complained, looking at her cards.

Kara laughed. "When are you going to learn? First you're flying with crooks," Boomer smacked Kara on the arm for that remark. "And then you're betting against Starbuck!"

"'Starbuck," Tigh snorted. "Now there's a call sign. Where's you get that nickname, anyway? Was it before you got thrown in the brig as a cadet for drunk and disorderly or after?"

Slowly pulling the cigar from her lips, she gave him a hard look. "After."

"After... that's right, it was after." The Colonel echoed as he tossed a few cubits onto the growing stack of winnings in the center of the table.

"I'm in." Helo tossed in some more chips. "Bet's to you, XO."

"I'm in." Tigh replied, throwing in his own chips.

"How's the wife?" Kara casually asked.

Tigh stiffened while the others at the table exchanged nervous glances, knowing that Kara was making a dig at his marital problems.

"The wife is just fine." Saul said evenly.

"Talk to her lately?" Starbuck grinned, pressing onward.

"Bet's to you, Lieutenant." He stared over his cards at her, the look hard and not giving a single hint that he was going to back down from this fight.

"All right. Thirty for me, and it looks like we'll have to bring this lovely little game to close because," She slapped her cards on the table. "Full colors!"

And with that she was like a sugar high child as she pulled the chips towards her with an infuriating grin on her fac.

In another Tigh would not have taken this lying down which he would have showed by knocking over the table in one sweep of his arms... but he wasn't about to let this bitch get the better of him so he took his glass of ice tea and stood up to walk out, ignoring Kara Thrace's whooping that echoed down the halls.

"What's the matter Colonel? Can't take a little competition?" Kara's voice made him stop and turn around, glaring at her infuriating smirk. "Guess things don't go well for you on the job or at home."

Almost everyone expected Colonel Tigh to just lose then and there but to their surprise he smirked and walked over. "I hear Captain Apollo, the old man's son is onboard. Been to see him yet?"

"No." Kara simply said.

"Oh, that's a surprise. You two used to be all buddy-buddy back in the day." Tigh stopped in front of the table. "Afraid to see him or something?"

"No sir." Kara answered. "Just haven't had the time."

"Really? He had all the time for you back then. Like that time he caught you pulling your pants down to frack the major of-" Tigh started but was cut off as Kara leapt to her feet and decked him in the face.

Helo and Boomer were up, grabbing Kara before she did anything else while Tigh only staggered about a foot back before he was standing straight. "Consider yourself confined to the brig until this little cruise is over. Maybe the old man's son will visit you there…again."

Kara glared at him as she picked up her cigar, gracefully bowing to everyone in the room for dramatic effect and walked away. Tigh put a hand to his face, smiling softly once she was gone.

He won this round even if the bitch threw the first punch.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica_  
Commander Adama's Quarters**

Colonel Tigh's jaw was sore as he entered Adama's headquarters, hoping for a bottle of scotch his friend was known to keep for occasions like this. Adama was finished putting on his dress uniform when Tigh came into his quarters with a glass of iced tea in his hand. Adama noted the bruise on his swollen cheek as he reached for a bottle of ice tea. If Adama hadn't dragged his friend to an alcoholics support group it would have no doubt been ambrosia in his hands but Adama didn't want his friend dishonorably discharged from the Colonial military so he forced his friend to get some help before something bad happened.

"This have something to do with Starbuck?" Adama asked.

"Hell yeah, it does." Tigh poured the tea into a small glass.

"Was that before or after you made a crack at her old habits?" Adama asked dryly.

"I did not...unless I did." Tigh put the glass down, knowing that he was busted but really didn't care. He was still in a good mood.

"You did. Look, I'm not going to defend her, especially after she made that crack about your marital problems but its better if we just let her cool her heels in the brig until after the ceremony."Adama replied.

"You are such a softy here, Bill. Then again you're the only dumb ass in the whole fleet who can put up with me." Tigh laughed.

"And that's why they're making a show of me retiring." Adama smiled. "A couple of crazy old men put out to pasture."

"A couple of old mules if you ask me." Tigh grunted.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica_  
Brig**

Meanwhile Commander Lee Adama better known for his call sign Apollo was visiting an old friend in the brig. It sure brought back memories as Lee stepped into the room, unable to count how many times he had either visited or bailed her out of the brig.

"This seems familiar."

Kara Thrace stood up when she heard the voice but had hoped to never hear. Things were awkward enough as she approached the bars and offered a salute. "Captain Adama, sir. Sorry I wasn't there to greet you with the rest of the squadron." She smiled. "Did they kiss your ass to your satisfaction?"

"So what's the charge this time?" Lee asked.

"Striking a superior asshole."

"Ah, that asshole happen to be the XO?" Lee asked with a chuckle.

"Go ahead and say it, same old Kara." Kara shrugged.

"I wasn't going to say that." Lee protested.

"How has it been? About..." Kara trailed off, allowing Lee to finish for her. "Two years."

"Two years!" Kara shook her head. "Must be getting old or something. Feels like the funeral was only a few months ago."

"Yeah." Lee whispered.

"The old man's doing okay, for the most part. Abby's doing okay but we all struggle with it." Kara continued, her voice sounding hollow. "Talk to him at all?"

"Haven't seen him." Lee looked away.

"Why not?"

"You know why." Lee's hands tightened into fists.

"How are long are you going to keep doing this?" Kara asked, disapproval clearly heard in her voice. "Can't even come to say hi to Abby?"

"Don't start with me, Kara." Lee asked, trying to himself in check.

"He lost his son."

"And whose fault is that?"

"And what about Abby? She lost both of her brothers."

"Only because she won't stand up to the man who is responsible."

Kara winced for some reason but shook her head. "Same old Lee. You haven't changed a bit either."

Lee was starting to get angry. "Zak was my brother."

"And what was he to Abby, to me? Nothing?" Kara challenged making Lee wince now.

"That's not what I meant and you know-"

"You know what? You should go." Kara cut him off. "I am getting the urge to hit another superior asshole."

Lee looked surprised for a second before shaking his head and turned to leave. Kara watched him walk out of the room, her mind filled with memories of the funeral and the loss of a man she had wanted to spend her life with.

* * *

 **South of Caprica City  
Gaius Baltar's Home**

"So you're telling me you're a…" Gaius Baltar looked pale, standing across from the bed. "A machine?"

"I'm a person." Natasi stated, wrapping the covers around her body as she sat up. "A woman. Or a cyborg if you want to get technical."

"A machine person…A synthetic woman…A robot? You? A new breed of Cylon?" Baltar said, trying to comprehend it all. "That's impossible! The Colonies had created scanners to identify Cylon Terminators! They're used on every planet, at every space port, at every government facility, and on every ship! The Cylons couldn't have infiltrated the Colonies with Terminators! They're nothing but walking chrome toasters wearing meat sacks!"

"Those models are still around. We all have our uses. And I prefer the term cybernetic organism." The woman said gently with smile. "The Colonies believe that our Terminator models would remain the same after forty years. It never seemed to occur to you that we had completely mapped out the human genome which controls the cell life span and degradation. We eliminated those unwanted genes from the cells prior to growing the biological bodies for the new models, adding in a few cybernetic components."

"No…I don't believe any of this. Prove it. Prove you're a Cylon. Right now." Baltar demanded.

"All right." Natasi smiled as she stood up, dropping the covers and revealing her entire body to her human lover. "Let's see what I could do…I could communicate with my brethren through the subspace transceivers in the neural net processor half of my brain and tell you what they are thinking…I could go out into space, open an airlock and take out all the oxygen on the ship and keep on breathing through the recycler and the bio-synthetic gland system that keeps my organs safe from the vacuum of space…I could alter my hair color through the use of the nano-machines in my scalp or…I could go on a rampage and brutally kill everyone I get my hands on while letting them shoot at me and let the bullets be destroyed by my nano-technological immune system…Do I even need to explain when you already know the truth?"

"No. Stating something is true is not the same as making it true." Gaius snapped. "The truth is I don't believe a word you're saying-"

"I know you, Gaius. I know how you think and when you think it…" Natasi held up her hand and balled it into a fist and showed Baltar two protrusions from her index finger. "Nano-probe injectors which upon ejected into anyone or anything is instantly connected to the Cylon data network. Nanites, microscopic machines that can be used to treat disease, injuries, and possibly keep the body in prime condition for a very long time."

"Impossible…The science in creating machines the size of a microbe is theoretical!" Baltar was close to being hysterical at the thought of tiny machines living inside of him.

"For you maybe but not for me and not for my people and my Father who chose you, out of all the people on Caprica for my mission." Natasi continued to speak slowly and huskily. "Cy-Net may have chosen you but when it came down to it I decided…that you would make a perfect addition to our future."

"Your mission?" Baltar repeated, feeling numb.

"You knew I wanted access to the Colonial Defence Mainframe." Natasi simply said, watching as Baltar's eyes widened in horror. "My mission…was to compromise the Colonial Defenses."

"Oh my Gods…" The air in Baltar's lungs seemed to leave him.

"You never believed I really worked for some mysterious 'company'."Natasi looked ready to laugh. "But you didn't really care either. All that mattered was that you and you alone could give me that kind of access. You were special. You were powerful."

"How many people know about this?" Baltar shouted, gripped with terror. "That you chose me?"

"And even now," She continued. "As the fate of your entire world hangs in the balance; all you can think about is how this affects Gaius Baltar."

"Do you even have any idea what they'll do to me if they find out?" Baltar cried.

"Probably charge you with treason." Natasi shrugged.

"Treason is punishable by the death penalty." Baltar's skin was slowly turning white, highlighting the sweat pouring down his face. "This is unbelievable."

"It won't matter. In a few hours there won't be anyone alive left to care."

"Wait… wait…. Wait!" Baltar stammered, trying to comprehend the situation. "Something doesn't make sense… you're still here. If this was really the end of the world, you wouldn't just be sitting here waiting to die with the rest of us."

She almost looked sad, for a second he wondered if that was sympathy he saw in her eyes.

"Gaius." The woman walked towards him, slowly she ran a hand over his trembling cheek and looked into his worried, tear rimmed eyes. "I can't die. If this body is destroyed, my memory and consciousness will be instantly transmitted to a new one. I'll just wake up somewhere else in an identical body."

"You mean there's more out there like you?" he whispered.

"There are twelve organic models…" She stated. "I'm Number Six."

Just as her hand left his cheek an alarm rang out across the ship.

"It's begun…"

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ Officer's Wardroom**

Lee stepped into _Galactica's_ wardroom, spotting the numerous photographers and people with microphones as the room lit with activity. He looked at the walls that were lined with flags, plaques and pictures that all showed _Galactica_ 's history.

Just as he stepped in a pair of wrapped around the back of his neck, surprising him but a familiar voice calmed him down. "Guess who?"

"Abby." Lee smiled as he turned and faced his twin sister who mirrored his happy smile, one that had not been seen for years, with her own. "What are you doing here?"

"I serve on this ship, at least until it and Commander retire but I knew you'd be here and because...we need to talk."

Lee felt like he had been lured into a trap and his sister was a tiger just ready to pounce. He spied his father in his dress uniform, standing in the back of the room.

"Why did you come here?" Lee whispered.

"Because I got sick of waiting for you to come back." Abby whispered back. "And I knew this would be the only way me to get you to stay and talk to me."

Lee had a good idea what she wanted to talk about and it was the exact thing he had been hoping to avoid.

"Simply running away isn't going to get rid of me that easily, Lee Joseph Adama." She smiled as she dragged him into the view of everyone.

"Captain, thank you for coming!" Doral came up and shook his hand before turning his eyes on Abby. "And this must be your sister."

'Do the all of the colonies know?' Lee thought, observing Abby shaking Doral's hand.

"If you'd like to stand up here we'll get a few shots of you and the commander. Thanks."

Abby literally dragged Lee next to their father and made sure he stood next to the Commander, shoulder to shoulder.

"Captain." Adama greeted quietly.

Lee said nothing as the cameras nearly blinded him.

"Fantastic, Commander could you put your arm around your son." Doral asked.

Adama raised his arm and encircled Lee, resting on his far shoulder while Abby put her arm on Lee's shoulder closest to Adama.

"Great! Perfect, thank you very much!" Doral said as the last picture was taken. "See you both at the ceremony."

With that said the photographers left the room and Adama turned to the counter to pick up some water. Lee wanted to leave but Abby blocked his path, giving him a stern glance.

"Talk time, Captain." Abby said.

"Not now." Lee tried to move out of the way Abby wouldn't move.

"Are you going to be like this for rest of your life?" Abby retorted. "Running away and ignoring friends and family? I love you, you're my brother but I am not going to around and wait for you to come back."

"Do you ever listen to what I say?" Lee asked hotly.

"Do you ever listen to anyone?" Abby returned the question.

Adama simply stood back and out of the way. He wanted to mend bridges between himself and his remaining son but he knew better than to try right now.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do but this is none of your business." Lee hissed.

"I'm your twin sister, this _is_ my business! You can't keep running away! Not from me, not from our father and from Gianne!" Abby snapped.

Lee's eyes widened and his mouth hung open for a second. "How do you know about Gianne?"

"She called us, Lee, looking for you. She said something about her _fiancé_ running off because she was pregnant." Abby said lowly, taking a step forward. "I invited her to be on the final voyage before the _Galactica_ is decommissioned. If I'm going to be an aunt I should at least know the mother of my niece or nephew."

"Abby…" Lee said slowly. "Don't do this."

"You've had plenty of time to grieve but this is too much and I'm not letting your stubbornness tear this family apart." Abby continued.

"My stubbornness? And what about you, little sister? Standing on the side of the man who killed our younger brother!" Lee snapped.

"He didn't kill Zak and you know it! It was an accident that could have happened to anyone!" Abby retorted.

"Not anyone, it happened to man who didn't have the chops to be a pilot. Zak did not belong in the uniform! He only did it to please him!" Lee pointed at their father who remained silent and looked away. "He might as well have shot him!"

"Zak never accepted special treatment from anyone, least of all our father. Our father never pulled any kind of strings so get it through that stuck up the ass head of yours." Abby leaned in close to Lee's face. "Our brother wouldn't have wanted this."

"He wouldn't have wanted to die either." Lee stepped back. "And you can't see it."

"See what? My little brother dies and then my older brother runs away and can't speak to me just because I'm not on 'his' side when we're supposed to be on the same side, the family side! I grieved for Zak as much as you but I refuse to take out on our father who grieves just as much as we do because Zak wouldn't have wanted this and if you can't see _that_ than I can only say how sorry I am for you, big brother." Abby turned away, flapping her long hair in her brother's face. "I just hope Gianne gets through that wall you put up because if you keep running away you're just going to be alone, miserable and just outright pitiful for the rest of your stupid life. Feel free to just drop out our lives; it's the only thing you're good at aside from being in a cockpit."

Lee opened his mouth to argue but stopped, looking at the back of Abby's head as she walked over to pick up a glass of water and then at Adama who simply watched in silence. Lee glared but didn't say anything.

He turned around and walked out of the room.

"Stupid big brother." Abby sniffed once he was gone.

Adama walked over and put an arm around his daughter's shoulders, offering comfort to the one child who wasn't dead or didn't hate him. It was times like these that he hated himself even more than his son hated him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Helios Alpha  
Edge of Colonial Space  
** **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ Starboard Flight Pod**

The _Galactica_ 's final voyage was now underway, its powerful ion engines propelling through space along the outskirts of the Colonies while being escorted by three _Valkyrie_ class Battlestars, the same class that Adama had commanded before being transferred to the _Galactica_ and five _Orion_ class Gunstars. Meanwhile a gathering was held in the hangar bay of the starboard flight pod with Vipers and Raptors stacked in their racks to allow room for delegates and military personnel who had all come to be part of the final voyage before the refit that would make _Galactica_ a museum ship. During her last refit the _Galactica_ 's flight pods had been installed with atmospheric force fields to not only protect the crew from the vacuum of space but it also allowed Vipers and Raptors to be docked here instead of being elevated down to the hanger deck. This allowed for greater fighter capacity which was needed when one battlestar was typically outnumbered three to one.

The force fields were constantly checked for malfunctions or power fluctuations to ensure they did not suddenly deactivate and send everyone in the landing bay out into space. Of course that wasn't what was bothering Lee right now. Right now it was the routine patrol he had been assigned to, making sure that there no surprises during the tour.

"Your Viper's all ready, Captain." A voice called out, directing Lee's attention to a man in an orange jumpsuit who happened to be Chief Galen Tyrol. "It's all fueled up and its cannons are fully loaded."

"Thanks Chief." Lee nodded. "Boomer and Helo ready?"

"All ready for lift off and for when Boomer lands." Tyrol snickered along with his crew, all of them knowing why he was laughing.

"I heard that!" A voice shouted from the nearby Raptor. "I told you before-"

"The gimbal was broken!" Tyrol said, finishing the woman's retort and laughed at annoyed look on her face. "Just give me one landing where you don't shake the entire ship and I'll believe you."

Sharon 'Boomer' Valeri scoffed and sat back down in the Raptor while Lee turned away with a small smile on his face. He slipped into the cockpit of his Viper, putting on his helmet as the Viper was towed into the nearest empty launch tube and once it was ready the LSO gave him the signal to launch. Lee grimaced as he felt the G forces slamming into his body as his Viper was propelled down the tube and was shot out of the end like a cannon ball. Looking down at his scanners Lee was slightly relieved to see Boomer and Helo were following in their Raptor.

"Apollo, Boomer, we're with you and ready to follow." Sharon's voice said through the speakers.

"Forming up now." Lee said, anxious to get this over with.

Already plans were drawn up to modify the starboard flight pod into a giant museum hall with giant windows on the entry points to prevent the gathered people from being sucked into space, replacing the force fields to save on power. Old Mark III Vipers would be lined up along with a glass case showing a captured and deactivated Cylon Centurion, the primary foot soldiers employed by the Cylons during the war, along with Cylon Hunter-Killer Models and a scale model of the Cylon capital ship seen during the war, a Cylon Basestar. The first to speak was Aaron Doral, followed by the Gemonon Representative of the Quorum Elosha, and then a presentation fly-by with Commander Lee Adama leading a squad of old Vipers that had been refitted, refueled, and re-armed for the ceremony. To the civilians it had been an honor and privilege to see something so remarkable.

As the applause died down Doral stepped back onto the podium and spoke again. "And now, it is my great pleasure to introduce the last commander of the Battlestar _Galactica_ , a young man who served on this ship as a pilot during the Cylon War and then came back to command her through years of peace, Commander William Adama."

The people applaud him as he stepped up onto the podium, waiting a moment as the applause died down before choosing to speak.

"The Cylon War is long over..." He looked at the crowd as they listened with apt attention. "Yet we must not forget the reasons why so many sacrificed so much in the name of freedom. The cost of wearing the uniform can be high but...sometimes it's too high. I look back on the last fifty years we have spent fighting them, remembering every mission, every battle, and every massacre that occurred and I remember the one thing that kept them going: they hate us with every fibre of their being."

People felt a little uncomfortable now and those who had prepared for the ceremony realized that Adama was not reciting the speech he had been given.

"You know, when we fought the Cylons we did to save ourselves from extinction. But we never answered the question, why? Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder for greed, revenge, or jealousy and we visit those sins upon our children."

His voice boomed throughout the whole ship and beyond as Viper pilots in space listened to him through the wireless, frozen in time.

"We refuse to accept responsibility for anything that we've done. As we did with the Cylons, when we decided to play God and eventually they decided they did not like us being the masters. We grew arrogant and complacent in the belief they would only serve our needs and to them that was the sign that humanity was a flawed creation that deserved extinction. We comforted ourselves in the knowledge that it wasn't our fault, not really." Adama continued. "We convinced ourselves that it was a mistake and that it will not happen again. Well you cannot play God and then wash your hands of the things that you've created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things you've done anymore."

He stepped off the podium, not bothering to wait for the applause to come, if any actually would. Laura Roslin raised her hands and slowly clapped, she was followed by another person, and then another and then the entire hall was lit with applause as Adama sat down next to Tigh who whispered. "You are one surprising son of a bitch."

Adama made a small, almost unseen smile.

* * *

 **Gaius Baltar's Hom** **e**

Baltar could only watch in frozen terror as each news channel he turned to made reports of unknown attacks only to be cut off a second later.

" _Trying to piece together unconfirmed reports of attacks in orbit. We don't have any further information yet. No actual enemy has been sighted…_ "

" _Official confirmation that the spaceport has been hit. No spacecraft left that can leave Caprica. Our best advice is to stay inside or if you must leave head out into the country-_ "

" _Officials are saying that there doesn't seem to be any doubt-_ "

One by one all of these channels went static, leaving Baltar in his living, shaking in his chair with the woman, the Cylon standing behind him. "What have I done? What…Have…I…Done?" He stood up. "There's no way out."

"I know." Natasi whispered, walking to him.

He spun around to face her. "There must be a way. This can't be it!"

"Do not worry, Gaius. You won't die." Natasi said as she stood at the window in front of him as a bright light flashed in the distance.

"What do you-"

"Get down." Natasi shoved him to the floor just as a shockwave of dust slammed into the house, tearing through the wall and the glass.

Baltar had no time to look up as the entire house seemingly collapsed on top of them. All he felt aside from terror was pain along with the smell of dust and sweat.

* * *

 **Caprica Orbit**

In orbit of Caprica large ships appeared in flashes of light, emerging from their jumps and began the next part of the plan. The giant star shaped ships released thousands of fighters while the smaller sword fish shaped cruisers launched missiles containing anti-matter charges that fell towards every large populated city on Caprica, dotting the planet with flashes of light that were in fact explosions that destroying everyone and everything they touched. In orbit Colonial Battlestars and Vipers rushed to stop their returned enemy but the Cylons had more than one surprise with them. With a single transmission any ship that was military or civilian started experience shut downs of power to everything they had, leaving them floating aimlessly and completely helpless.

With the human ships now helpless the Cylons swarmed them, unleashing anti-matter armed missiles that lit up the sky with the flaming wreckage of the helpless Colonial fleet. The stations in orbit that were used for refueling and refitting the fleet was next, peppered by Cylon particle based lasers and anti-matter missiles until they were torn apart. The ships that were not destroyed instantly found themselves hit by debris causing even more damage and destruction. There was chaos and confusion in the skies above the Colonies as the Cylons attacked anything they saw as humans.

As the carnage more Cylon Basestars arrived in flashes of light and took position over each of the Twelve Colonies, ready for the next part of the plan. Colonial Fleet Headquarters, a massive space station in orbit of Picon was already scrambling to launch everything as DRADIS detected multiple ships approaching and reports of attacks on the other colonies came in. Battlestars moved away from the docking clamps, Vipers and Raptors launched from the hangars and civilian ships tried to clear the area before they were caught in the cross fire. The Cylons were settling into planetary orbit as the Colonial ships raced to meet them before they could attack the planet below.

Cylon Raiders flew towards the Colonial ships, targeting them and preparing to fire. But not before transmitting something on an open channel which the Colonial ships would easily receive...

And then they were totally helpless.

* * *

 **Caprica  
Mysterious Home**

"They're attacking." The girl said, listening to the screaming through the comm channels. "The defense systems are down."

"They must have infiltrated the Colonies and left backdoors for them to enter and order Colonial defenses to shut down." The father whispered. "We'll have to use the command they left us."

"Once we use it the Cylons will adapt to it and we won't be able to use it again." The daughter pointed out.

"And if we don't use it the Colonies are gone."

Hearing her father's argument she nodded and activated a special program they had devised over the years.

* * *

 **Caprica City  
Colonial House of Colonization**

"What do you mean the defence fleet was destroyed?!" President Adar demanded.

"We're just getting the reports now. There have been attacks all over the Colonies with ships jumping out of nowhere and attacking us. From the chatter we're hearing we're assuming it's the Cylons. They must have broken the armistice."

"Cylons?" Adar gasped in horror as he gripped his desk. "They've come back and they're attacking...What do we do now?"

"Admiral Nagala has assumed command he's leading the counter attack. Military installations were the first ones to be attacked along with any military ships in the area followed by civilian ships caught in the crossfire. We need to hurry before they start planet-side attacks."

"All right, call all remaining Battlestars to return and defend the colonies they are closest to and have all off-duty officers get ready. I'll convene with the Quorum and suspend all commercial and civilian travels until the crisis is lifted." Adar demanded.

"Sir, yes sir." Corman saluted.

"Admiral!" Both men turned around as a Colonial Officer ran in and saluted. "Sir, I have more news coming in. The Cylons just attacked Picon, Fleet Headquarters was just destroyed!"

"What?!" Corman shouted.

"It's true sir. Scorpion Shipyards was just destroyed and we're getting calls from the other shipyards reporting similar attacks all over the colonies."

"They're hitting all of our major stations, taking out our main resources!" Corman realized. "What about the defence fleets?"

"I've been monitoring communications and it sounds like they either destroyed or losing sir." The young officer said, with a hint of fear in his voice. "The Cylons are positioning in higher orbit above Caprica right now sir."

Adar gasped as he realized what would happen. He quickly turned his laptop, turning it on and a typing at a fast rate.

"Mr. President?" Corman asked.

Adar didn't answer as he looked at the laptop and used an open communication frequency. "Attention, this is Richard Adar, President of the Twelve Colonies offering a complete and unconditional surrender. I repeat, I offer complete and unconditional surrender."

It didn't matter as just as he spoke anti-matter charges fell onto Caprica City, detonating the instant they touched the ground. City Hall was right in the center of the attack and was consumed in a huge explosion. Caprica City was bombed into dust as the endless rain of projectiles fell from the sky like meteors.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica_  
Commander Adama's Quarters**

It had been a long day, even if almost everyone was enjoying the simple pleasure cruise, and Commander Adama was only too happy to be back in his cabin, reading one of his favourite books when comm set buzzed for him.

Adama reached out towards the phone, picking it up and answered. "This is the Commander."

" _Sir, we have a Priority One message being transmitted on all channels._ "

"Priority One?" Adama asked. "What does it say?"

Mr. Gaeta was hesitant as he repeated the message. " _Attention all Colonial Units, Cylon Attack underway. This is not a drill._ "

Adama froze, feeling like he was having a dream...or a nightmare.

"I'll be right there."

He desperately hoped it was just a prank.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica_  
XO's Quarters**

Tigh was in his cabin, a small drink on his table as he looked at the picture of his wife Ellen Tigh in one hand while holding up a cigarette to it in his other hand. He looked ready to touch the cigar to where his wife's face when the ship suddenly shook and klaxons started to shriek.

The buzzer sounded, ringing throughout the ship earning the attention of the entire crew.

" _Action Stations. Action Stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship. This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill_."

"What the hell?" Tigh jumped to his feet as the ship shook again and he instantly recognized it as a missile attack.

The _Galactica_ was under attack.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ Starboard Flight Pod  
Landing Bay**

By now dinner on _Colonial 798_ was over and the Quorum and military leaders were mingling with delegates and high ranked officials who were all sharing drinks and conversations in the dining section of the cruiser liner as the pilots ran a diagnostic check to make sure the ship was ready to take off back to the Colonies without anything happening. Roslin smiled at her aid, Billy Keikaya as he nervously talked with a woman who happened to be Elosha, a Gemenon priest who was smirking at how silly he looked as he tried to strike up a pleasant conversation. She was about to fall asleep when the room was suddenly shaken by what felt like an impact that literally shook her awake.

"Whoa!" Billy nearly fell over as the _Galactica_ shook. "What the-"

Roslin managed to stand up and headed for the door, opening it up and peaking down the hall.

"Miss Roslin?" Billy asked, managing to straighten himself up.

"Something's happening…" Roslin looked over at Billy. "Stay here. I'm going to see what's going on."

"Miss Roslin, wait!" Billy quickly scrambled after her.

* * *

It happened so fast.

Lee was performing a routine fighter escort alongside the squad he was assigned to and their shift was nearly over when there was a series of flashes of light which meant a ship or to be more accurate more than one ship was emerging from their jump and suddenly the entire fleet was under attack. The ships in question let loose a barrage of plasma bolts, particle lasers, and missiles with anti-matter charges. There was a total of five ships with one of them as large as a _Mercury_ class Battlestar with two X-shaped hulls attached by a central column, pointing in opposite directions resembling an eight pointed star while the other four somewhat resembled a type of fish with long pointed ends from the front of their hulls resembling swords that were about as large as the _Galactica_ 's flight pods. The giant ship launched over a dozen fighters, far too many for Lee to count and they flew in attack formation to swarm the fleet while it was still in disarray.

He could hear people shouting over the fleet channel, conveying confusion and panic all at once.

" _Where the hell did they come from?!_ "

" _Hit on the starboard engine! We're leaking coolants!_ "

" _Hull breach on decks three and four! Seal compartments!_ "

Lee quickly switched on his comm system. "All Vipers form on me, razzle dazzle formation. Protect the fleet until it's organized."

The Vipers seemed to follow Lee's orders just in time as the enemy fighters came into range, firing bright blue phased plasma bolts and the Vipers quickly returned fire with their kinetic cannons. The surrounding space lit up with the explosions as the Vipers and Raiders tangled with each other, blasting one another to bits.

As Lee targeted flew past an enemy fighter, dodging its blaster fire he saw its cockpit…

Or rather its face.

When he saw the face with the red revolving eye he instantly recognized it from the old war stories his father told him when he and his brother were still children.

They were Cylons.

Lee switched on his targeting computer and targeted the nearest Cylon Raider, confident that the Viper squad could defend the fleet until they could launch a counter attack. The Viper mark IIV was modified with best up to date technology that had been built up from the Viper Mark II that had been modified with reverse engineered Cylon technology from when Admiral Adama had been a Viper pilot before his children had been born. These Vipers were installed with an advanced fusion reactor, deflector screens for extra protection which increased survival against Cylon fighters by twenty percent in all engagements and the built in the kinetic projectile cannons and missiles armed with chemical warheads allowing the Vipers to make a stand against their Cylon counterparts. Lee's computer locked onto the Cylon and he fired, hitting the Cylon's engines several times before the shields collapsed and it exploded into a shower of flames.

* * *

Tigh met up with Adama in the hall leading to the CIC, the scent of alcohol reeking from his mouth. "What the hell is this? Someone playing a prank."

"I don't think so." Adama handed Tigh the latest report.

He looked it over and then at Adama with an incredulous look. "This is a joke! It's got to be a prank."

Adama stepped into the CIC as the crew were at their stations, shouting orders or working frantically to keep the chaos under control. "Sit rep!"

"Taking fire from five unknown ships, commander. The configuration for four of them matches Cylon Bladestar class and weapon signature matches Cylon plasma and particle laser weaponry but the energy readings are higher than in records and there are several different weapon signatures with energy readings just as high. The fifth ship is as large as a _Mercury_ and its launching fighters, over almost nine hundred." Gaeta reported.

"A Basestar." Adama looked up at the DRADIS, easily recognizing the dreaded capital ship of the Cylon fleet.

"Captain Lee Adama has taken charge of the fighter escorts." Dee reported.

"What's our status?" Adama asked.

"We're still charging the particle cannons and turbo lasers but we have our shields up and they're blocking most of the enemy fire. The missile batteries are armed and ready to fire and our escort ships have taken defense positions around the _Galactica_." Gaeta continued.

"Launch Vipers immediately." Adama stated, his tactical mind and experience already at work. "Launch missiles the second they are ready at the nearest ship and establish a perimeter with the turbo lasers and flak cannons."

"Yes sir."

"And get Starbuck out of the brig." Adama pressed the intercom on the table. "This is the Commander, minutes ago this ship received word of a Cylon attack against our home worlds is underway. We are also now under attack by a Cylon fleet."

He watched as the CIC crew looked up in shock and fear.

"We do not know the size or the disposition or the strength of the enemy forces, but all indications point to a massive assault against the Colonial Defences. Admiral Nagala has taken personal command of the fleet, following the destruction of Picon Fleet Headquarters. How, why, does not matter at this point. As of this moment, we are at war."

He looked over the frightened looks of the crew.

"You have trained for this, you are ready for this, stand to your duties, trust your shipmates, and we'll get through this." Adama paused. "Thank you." He looked around the CIC, seeing the crew looking at him before quickly returning to their stations. "Initiate firing solution as soon as all batteries are charged."

* * *

 **Colonial Defence Force  
Battlestar _Atlantia  
_ En Route to Picon**

The Battlestar _Atlantia_ was already moving to the planet Virgon with three _Valkyrie_ acting as escorts with a dozen destroyers and fighters. The group was closest to Virgon with their sub light engines at full speed, hoping to reach the planet before the Cylons had started bombarding it with nuclear missiles or Mass Drivers.

"Admiral, I'm getting a lot of chatter. Sounds like there's already a fight going on." The Communications officer spoke up.

"Put it on speakers." Admiral Nagala watched the DRADIS with his XO.

"... _to anyone out there this is the Battlestar Solaria. We are suffering heavy losses and most of our ships have lost power! We need help, Cylons are closing-AAAAHH..._ " There was a huge explosion and then it went static.

"Power outages?" Nagala asked.

"We've got similar reports coming in from other groups and space stations, reporting a sudden loss of power." The Communications Officer continued.

"What the hell have those toasters done?" The XO growled.

"Sir, we have multiple contacts! Cylons are breaking orbit and heading for us!"

The DRADIS spotted three Basestars along with a dozen Raiders heading for the group.

"Forward batteries are to open fire as soon as they come into range with plasma batteries set for point defence." Nagala ordered. "And keep an eye out for any power fluctuations."

The Battlestar _Atlantia_ along with the rest of the _Mercury_ Class was deadly for a reason. They were more armed than even the original _Columbia_ class with an impressive firing rate at least until they either burned out or shut down to have a chance to cool off.

"Our Vipers are coming into contact with enemy fighters."

Nagala watched the DRADIS closely as the Vipers were close enough to open fire. But instead of opening fire they started to simply float in the middle of space, falling out of formation as the Cylons closed in on them.

"What the hell? Someone get into contact with them!" The XO barked.

"I'm trying sir. They're not responding!"

"They don't have power!" Nagala realized. "The Cylons must have hacked the computer system and turned them off!"

They should have seen it coming. It's what the Cylons had done in the last war, shut down Colonial ships making it easy for them to destroy. But they had been positive the Cylons were either gone or that the Colonials at least now had better defences against their ability to hack networked systems.

"Cylons are attacking!"

They all watched helplessly as the Cylons started destroying the Viper squadrons one by one.

"Order all ships to engage!" The XO shouted.

"No...no...we need to pull back!" Nagala exclaimed.

"Sir?"

"The Cylons are shutting down our ships and if we try to attack we're next. We need to retreat now." Nagala explained.

"Sir, Cylon Basestar on intercept course."

Nagala gritted his teeth at the DRADIS showing the image of the modern Cylon Basestar moving towards his group. The escorts moved to intercept but Nagala had to order them to retreat before it was too late for them...

Or for his ship.

That was when the instruments all over the CIC started to fizzle.

"Oh no..." Nagala gasped in horror.

* * *

As the attack on the fleet continued three revolving red eyes watched surveyed the battle with cold machine efficiency as their fighter glided through space, firing on any humans ships in their way. The Cylons had changed greatly since their creation but one of the things that never changed was that they still built ships with Centurion pilots even though they could now build actual Cylons as fighters. The Cylons were not just advanced machines with minds of their own but they were united, a team, an entire race united in their goal so why would it be hard to believe that they would have fighters with pilot Centurion models or that they had three Centurions in the fighters acting as pilot, weapons officer, and commander?

Their machine minds worked together in piloting a single fighter, synchronized to the point that they weren't just pilots but the ships themselves. The pilot and the gunner sat at the front in the large cockpit while the commander sat at the rear station, observing the battle data shared between all Cylon ships and instantly created strategies to adapt to any form of human attack or to quickly exterminate all enemy humans quickly.

"Groups four, five, and six arm and attack Battlestar _Atlantia._ " The command Centurion stated.

The answer was immediate. "By your command."

* * *

"Sir, something's taking control of the system!"

"Activate the Jump Drive! Get us out of here!" Nagala shouted.

"Sir, we can't jump without..."

"DO IT!" Nagala boomed. "And send an emergency transmissions to any comm buoys or ships nearby, tell them to retreat as far as they can and disable any networked systems!"

With that said the navigator quickly activated the Jump Drives but just as the _Atlantia_ was about to jump the Cylons fired their anti-matter charges which hit the ship, blasting through its hull and damaging the FTL Drives in the process.

* * *

" _Atlantia_ Death Squadron attack." The Cylon flight leader stated, watching as the _Atlantia_ 's turbo-laser fire increased.

The new Raiders which were smaller than the piloted ones swarmed _Atlantia_ , letting loose plasma fire and anti-matter torpedoes that slammed into the weakened shields as the battlestar's turbo lasers shot at the smaller ships. Though powerful the Cylon Raiders were smaller and faster which allowed many of them to survive the initial barrage even though a great many of them were destroyed. Unfortunately they attacked _Atlantia_ knowing it was a suicide run as many of them jumped, reappearing under the shields and exploded upon colliding with the hull or even underneath it.

" _Atlantia to all battlestars, we are under attack. We need help. I repeat, we need hel-_ " The call for help was cut off as another explosion rocked _Atlantia_ and several turrets exploded and left the ship defenceless when the flak field collapsed.

Without any protection the Cylons swarmed the flagship of the Colonial fleet, slowly blasting it apart as it tried to flee.

A second later the Battlestar _Atlantia_ was no more.


	7. Chapter 7

**Caprica  
Mysterious Home**

"It's not working fast enough. The counter signal is being transmitted to every ship in the Colonies but the Cylons are attacking too fast." The girl said in dismay.

"It's still working. The Cylons are at least meeting resistance at the outer planets. They attacked the inner planets before branching out." Her father said comfortably.

"But it's not fast enough. If we can't save the fleet the Colonies will be defenceless. The Cylons will have us outnumbered." The girl cried.

"Maybe but we can still help them." The father said, putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ Starboard Flight Pod**

The instant Kara was released from the brig she bolted towards the starboard hangar where her Viper was waiting. It didn't take her long to find her Viper as the deckhands were all moving at lightspeed to get the _Galactica_ 's fighters launched.

"COME ON! HURRY UP AND CLEAR THE LAUNCH BAY!" Kara shouted impatiently.

Chief Tyrol quickly had the tube cleared and ordered deck control to close the tube. The Viper was finally in the tube and the doors behind it closed to protect the rest of the flight deck from the vacuum of space.

"FINALLY!" Kara shouted as she pressed down on the turbo button, feeling the G-force as her Viper was propelled through the launch tube and into space.

Once she was in space she could see endless stream of Cylon fighters firing blue disruptor pulses at the _Galactica_ and the rest of the fleet. She looked down at her DRADIS and could see fighters forming up behind her.

"All right, we have to knock out those toasters before they finish _Galactica_ off _._ " Lee said from his Viper. "Everyone move in groups. Do not engage them alone. I repeat, do not engage them alone."

Kara nodded as the Vipers followed their standard razzle-dazzle formation as the Raiders attacked; firing bright blue pulse lasers that would shred anything they touch. Kara looked at the incoming fighters and noticed something. They were shaped like giant bats that flew down and threatened to swarm the human ships. Originally the Cylon Raiders were shaped like giant flying wings but they were upgraded, looking sleeker with their wings slightly extended and angled downwards that made them resemble bats. They weren't as fast as the new Vipers but they were more manoeuvrable and maintained the cockpit which held three Cylons as a pilot, gunner, and commander.

Like all Cylon ships they were highly advanced, powered by advanced fusion reactors and had deflector shields for protection with deadly phased plasma cannons. She could see the standard Raiders that were as big as a Raptor and piloted by three Centurions but there was a new type of Raider that was attacking. They had curved wings pointing forward and a 'face' resembling a Centurion with the signature red revolving eye and they were around the same size as the Vipers.

"There's a new kind of fighter…It doesn't have a pilot!" Kara stated, realizing that the new Raiders weren't just new Cylon fighters but were actually Cylons.

They moved in standard Cylon formation and fired their phased plasma pulse cannons down on the human ships. The Vipers fired their kinetic cannons at the Cylons who broke formation and begun trading fire with their enemies. Space lit up with flash of kinetic shells and energy bolts exploding all around Kara as she jammed down on the throttle.

Meanwhile Lee had his hands full with three Cylon Raiders that had managed to isolate one of the Gunstars and were tearing into its hull with their pulse plasma cannons. As Lee came into range his Viper's console flickered for a second and it seemed ready to shut down but it didn't. It seemingly rebooted itself but Lee had no time to guess what happened as the Raiders came into range and he quickly fired. The middle Raider exploded and the other two broke away, acting somewhat surprised for some reason.

" _Galactica_ , Apollo. Something happened to my systems. They almost shut down before rebooting. I didn't have a chance to reset it." Apollo quickly said.

* * *

Adama's head perked up when he heard his son's transmission. "Have the Cylons transmitted anything?"

"Yes sir. They have been transmitting on an open channel since they jumped in." Dee reported.

"You think they tried hacking us?" Tigh questioned.

"It would explain a few things." Adama answered as they both remembered that the Cylons had triumphed in many battles hacking the systems on Colonial ships, especially if those systems were networked.

This was why he never allowed _Galactica's_ systems to be networked during any overhaul when the systems were being upgraded. He remembered seeing firsthand how the Cylons shut an entire fleet down before wiping it out, ship to ship. Even when new systems were being added Adama and his predecessors made sure they were never networked.

"They probably thought _Galactica_ was just as wired as the rest of the fleet." Tigh realized and grinned. "Good thing no one ever did try and wire her."

'All batteries commence fire." Adama said as soon as the Vipers had launched.

A second later _Galactica_ opened fire with her anti-fighter turbo-laser cannons and rail guns on the enemy fighters, spewing bolts of red light and kinetic shells that destroyed anything they hit.

"All fighters launched Commander." Dualla reported after all pilots had reported in.

"Perimeter established." Gaeta spoke a second later.

"Have the others ships launcher their fighters?" Adama asked, watching the battle on the tactical view screen.

"Yes sir." Gaeta reported.

"Status of the shields." Tigh stated.

"They're holding, Colonel but the enemy is pressing. Our shields can't keep up for much longer." Abigail reported from the Op station.

"Commander, the escort ships are launching missiles at the Bladestars." Gaeta spoke up next to Abby.

"Launch our missiles as well. We'll push through them and then deal with the Baseship." Adama replied.

"Yes sir."

* * *

The three _Valkyrie_ class Battlestars began launching their kinetic and nuclear missiles as Vipers launched from their flight pods. The missiles streaked towards the Bladestars but the Cylons were prepared and activated their defense laser arrays, shooting down the missiles with incredible accuracy while increasing power to their shields. The _Galactica_ and the rest of the escort ships opened fired as well, launching all available missiles at the Bladestars, making it impossible even for their impressive defense systems to shoot down all of the missiles that exploded against their armored hull. Even their shields were beginning to buckle under the pressure.

In retaliation one of the Bladestars pointed its bow at one of the _Valkyrie_ Battlestars and a moment later a beam of bright blue light shot from the pointed end of the bow and collided with the Battlestar, tearing through the hull, destroying the CIC that was in the heart of the large ship and hit the Tylium Energizer which instantly started a chain reaction that seal the ship's fate. The surrounding escort ships quickly moved out of the way as the Battlestar exploded into a miniature sun that faded into a collection of burning wreckage a moment later.

* * *

" _Pacifica_ is gone!" Gaeta reported.

"Scans confirm weapon is similar to Cylon particle laser cannon." Abby spoke up as she looked over the scans of the enemy weapon.

"Keep our ships out of the firing range of those weapons." Adama said, cursing the Cylons for the loss of the souls onboard the _Pacifica_.

* * *

"Die you motherfraker!" Kara shouted as she closed in on a Cylon fighter, gritting her teeth when she saw it had the same kind of shields that almost all Cylon ships were equipped with to block any form of attack.

The Cylon fighter spun around fired its phased plasma bolts but Kara pulled her throttle back and hit the turbo, managing to avoid getting herself blasted out of existence. Kara spun her Viper down and targeted all of her four anti-ship missiles on the Cylon.

"Take this!" She shouted as she fired.

The Cylon fighter scanned the four missiles about to hit and diverted all available power to the shields just the missiles hit. The Cylon was sent flying through space through a large explosion that temporarily blinded its sensors. It was blind enough for Kara to fly after it and fire her cannons. The shields flared, having been weakened by the missiles designed to take out ships larger than a fighter and finally collapsed as the bullet pierced the Cylon's 'head' and exploded.

Kara smiled but the smile faded as she spun around, seeing the _Galactica_ surrounded by explosions, gun batteries firing and the pulsing light of Cylon energy weapons.

Kara knew the battle was not over and it wasn't going good for them. The Cylons had them completely outmatched and they were dying too fast to do anything to stop them. Not even reinforcements from the few Vipers that had managed to launch from the other destroyers were able to slow them down.

"Gods, please…Help us." Kara whispered.

She heard the screams through the wireless and she watched as Colonial icons disappeared from the scanner with an alarming rate.

Meanwhile Boomer and Helo's Raptor were chasing after three Cylon fighters that were flying close to the _Galactiva's_ flak barrage.

"Locking on…Firing!" Boomer pressed down on the fire button and fired three solium armed missiles at the fighters.

The Cylons detected the missiles and split up and the missiles impacted the moon, sending pieces of rock flying everywhere. Boomer locked onto one Cylon and fired the Raptor's plasma cannons, managing to hit the Cylon as it was disorientated by the explosion. The Cylon's shields blocked three shots before they finally fell and the fourth one hit its fuel cells.

"One down!" Boomer laughed as the fighter vanished into flames.

"We got the other two inbound." Helo said as the two fighters spun around and fired their disruptors. "Incoming fire!"

"I see that!" Boomer shouted as she worked on dodging the disruptor pulses that shot past the front of the cockpit.

* * *

"Admiral."

Adama looked over his shoulder and saw Roslin walk into the CIC, followed by Billy. "Madam Secretary."

"What's happening? I have been hearing chatter through the ship. They say the Cylons are attacking." Roslin stated.

"They are right. It looks like the Cylons have broken the armistice." Adama looked back down at the tactical table, seeing the battle and saw it wasn't going well.

"What do we do?" Roslin asked.

"We fight back and hopefully drive them off so we can retreat back to Caprica." Adama answered quickly. "Status of forward laser cannons."

"Coming online sir." Gaeta answered.

"Fire when ready."

* * *

Originally the _Galactica'_ s forward weapons were phased plasma cannons but over the course of the war and after leading to a new weapon dubbed the particle laser cannon becoming the main energy weapon used by both Colonials and Cylons. The first major component was the laser generator which held the primary particle energy which was kept in a semi-fluidic electro-plasma state until it was ready to be converted into its full energy state. The next step were the laser pumps and the particle accelerators working in tandem as the electo-plasma was 'pumped' and super accelerated into ultra heated light based energy. The final step was the optical cavity which focused the energy into a compressed particle beam of combined light and heat that can burn through almost all known form of armor and the ones installed on the original Battlestars were powerful enough to cripple or destroy Cylon capital ships on one or two hits.

For the first time in a long time, the _Galactica_ 's forward particle lasers fired, spitting out four brilliant beams of red light that slammed into the Cylon Bladestar that had just destroyed the _Pacifica_. The beams slammed into the Cylon ship, melting the armor that had already been damaged by missiles, shells, and plasma bolts from the Colonial fleet. The ship's shields failed instantly as the _Galactica_ 's plasma beams cut through the hull, causing a chain reaction as explosions rang throughout the interior. The _Galactica_ 's forward particle lasers shut off a second after they hit their target but the damage was done as the Bladestar fell out of position, flaming pieces of metal ripping from the hull as it spun helplessly.

One of the remaining _Valkyries_ launched a salvo of kinetic and nuclear missiles at the crippled ship and upon slamming into the damaged hull exploded, moving the ship's condition from critical to terminal as the ship was engulfed in a massive fireball combined from the ship's anti-matter reactor and the nuclear missiles.

* * *

"Cylon Bladestar destroyed, Admiral." Abby reported with an exuberant smile.

"One down, four to go." Tigh commented as the _Galactica_ shook again.

"We need to take out the base ship. It's the main threat." Adama stated. "Take it out and the remaining ships will either retreat or be destroyed shortly after."

It was well known to veterans of the Cylon War that even though Cylon Bladestars were formidable a single Battlestar was sufficient enough to destroy it, especially with its small fleet of Vipers. That was why they usually travelled in groups of three or four or with a Basestar.

"Dee, tell the _Aegis_ and the _Basilisk_ to launch their missiles at the base ship. Angle our plasma cannons so that they can target the base ship."

"Yes sir." Dee nodded.

* * *

The _Galactica_ 's turbo lasers targeted the Basestar and fired bright orange bolts of plasma that slammed into the armored hull. The Basestar retaliated by returning fire, ignoring the two _Valkyries_ as they fired their missiles. The heat seeking guidance systems followed the plasma bolts fired by the _Galactica_ towards the Basestar, a tactic that the Colonial military had made when they needed a way to get past the jamming field Cylon ships used to avoid being hit by nuclear missiles, and locked onto the hull where plasma bolts hit, heating up the refractive armor but was partially deflected by the shields. As the missiles came in range blue beams of light fired from the Basestar's hull, shooting the missiles with amazing accuracy.

Cylon Raiders had also attacked the missiles, blasting them apart and even performing suicide runs as they rammed into the missiles to stop them from reaching the Basestar. Still some missiles managed to make through and collided with the hull, blasting apart the refractive armor. The Basestar returned fire with plasma bolts and missiles at the two _Valkyrie_ Battlestars and the _Galactica_ as it fired its forward particle laser cannons again. The four red beams collided with the one of the Basestar's arms, burning through the shields and armor and visibly shook the Basestar.

The Basestar started to move back, continuing to fire at the fleet, targeting the _Valkyries_ as their missiles peppered its hull. High powered plasma bolts and plasma fusion missiles launched towards the smaller Battlestars while a bright blue array on the central pylon that connected the double X-shaped hulls together started glowing.

* * *

"Reading an energy surge coming from the Basestar, Admiral." Abby called out. "It's similar to our forward particle cannons but greater in power."

"They're bringing out the big guns." Tigh realized.

The 'big guns' Colonel Tigh was talking about was the standard ship destroying weapon of the Cylon Basestar. A powerful Anti-Proton Particle Beam weapon that could cut through armor and shields easily due to the volatile nature that happened when the anti-protons collided with their targets, drilling through shields and armor like a hot knife through butter. The Cylons had experimented with anti-matter during the war, developing anti-matter charges and torpedoes that were more powerful than any nuclear warhead. The Colonial military had worked to develop counter-measures, creating multiple armored hulls that would struggle to hold against this new weaponry but it was almost impossible to successfully block an Anti-Proton Beam weapon, especially on a Cylon capital ship.

"All hands brace for impact." Adama stated.

* * *

The array glowed brighter as each second passed until it was fully charged and fired a bright blue beam that collided with one of Galactica's escorting Valkyrie Battlestars, burning through the hull and hitting the Tylium energizer which caused a chain reaction leading the giant ship to vanish in a giant ball of fire. The Colonial fleet was completely disorganized as they struggled to avoid getting hit by the wreckage but more than one ship was hit.

* * *

" _Basilisk is gone_!" Gaeta reported loudly.

"Status of the fleet?" Adama quickly demanded, seeing the DRADIS was partially disabled from all the interference from the _Basilisk_ 's destruction.

"There's comm chatter on all channels, sir. They're all screaming for help or trying to avoid getting hit." Dee reported.

Abby's screen beeped. "Another energy spike Admiral! The Basestar is about to fire!"

* * *

The Basestar fired its particle beam weapon again, targeting the _Aegis_ while it was disorientated and like before the beam burned through the shields and hull, hitting the energizer and destroying the large ship with one hit.

* * *

"We've lost the _Aegis_!"

"Target the Basestar and fire forward weapons!" Adama said, having enough of the destruction and death caused by the Cylons.

* * *

The _Galactica_ fired its forward cannons. This time the cannons were aimed at one of the hangar bays on the base ship, underneath one of the upper arms. Just as the four red beams were about to hit their target the hangar bay lit up as the shields and armor seemingly struggled to block the plasma particle beams. The shields were seemingly pushed to the limit and the Basestar trembled from the hit as the plasma beams slowly pushed through the shields and armor and blasted into the hangar bay.

The beams scorched ships that hadn't taken off yet and burned everything to the other end of the hangar. At the end of the hangar was a large tank used to refuel the Raiders while docked in their racks. The remnants of the energy beam scorched through the tank and set off a chain reaction that blew what was left the hangar apart and caused a series of explosion through the upper hull of the Basestar.

"Reading multiple explosions from the Basestar, sir." Gaeta reported. "Explosions consistent with possible Tylium leakage."

"Except the scans aren't picking up, Tylium. They are using something else." Abby spoke up, seeing the readout on her scanners. "The gaseous emissions are common with…nebula gases… The explosive readings are on par with Tylium."

"It's still a critical blow." Tigh said, seeing the DRADIS icon of the Basestar falling back. "They're pulling back."

"The Basestar is." Adama noted, seeing the four icons for the smaller Cylon ships remaining. "They didn't think they'd have to fight us. They thought we'd be disabled and so we unwittingly took them by surprise. If they were expecting a fight they wouldn't have jumped in so close."

"Makes you wonder about the rest of the fleet." Tigh realized what Adama was thinking.

"We need to finish this battle now." Adama stated. "Dee, have the fleet ignore the Basestar and concentrate on the remaining Bladestars. Weapons free."

"Yes sir." Dee said and quickly transmitted the orders.

"Mr. Gaeta, what's the status of the fleet and the remaining Cylon ships?" Adama turned to face Gaeta's station.

"Four remaining Bladestars have suffered heavy damage to their armor sir. I think they've started to reinforce their shields. Our fighter wings report that they are outnumbered two to one." Gaeta answered. "The _Aegis_ and the _Basilisk_ are reporting heavy damage to their-" He stopped as one of the Colonial icons disappeared. " _Trident_ 's gone sir. Its engines were hit by a fusion missile."

"Target the nearest Bladestar and open fire. Direct the fleet to concentrate forward fire on the Bladestars. Secondary weapons target the fighters and give our Vipers cover fire." Adama said, angered at the loss of lives aboard the lost _Trident_.

The _Galactica_ 's forward cannons locked onto the nearest Bladestar and fired, scorching deep into the hull but not destroying it yet. That was when the Cylons seemed to have had enough as the damaged ship activated its jump drive and vanished in a flash of light.

"Commander, Cylon forces are retreating. They're jumping sir." Gaeta reported with a smile as Cylon icons slowly vanished from the screen. "Raiders and remaining ships are jumping."

"Jumping? Those fighters have Jump Drives?" Tigh asked dumbfounded.

"Apparently." Adama grimaced at what this meant.

If the Cylons could now equip their fighters with Jump Drives this meant that they would not need a Basestar to carry them into battle. They could just swarm the _Galactica_ and retreat instantly back to the Basestar, refuel and then return to attack again.

"They're running." Tigh said with a smile despite the shock of discovering the Cylons adapting Jump Drives to their fighters as the remaining Cylons disappeared.

"Recall our fighters and inform the others to set course for home."

* * *

" _Galactica to all Vipers, return to your ships or the nearest battlestar. I repeat, return to your ships or the nearest battlestar._ "

Lee sighed. "Captain Apollo to all Vipers, return to the _Galactica._ "

The Vipers and Raptors quickly turned around and flew towards the _Galactica_ at full speed, struggling to avoid getting blown up as the remaining Cylons chased after them. One by one they landed in the landing bay while the _Galactica_ 's turbo-lasers turned on the pursuing Cylons and fired, forcing them back.

"We've collected over eighty fighters with seventy of them belonging to us, Admiral." Dualla reported.

"Very well. Flank speed to Caprica and order the fleet to follow us." Adama replied, feeling the _Galactica_ 's engines flaring up as it glided away.

* * *

"Lieutenant, what did you do to my Viper?!"

When Starbuck's Viper was lowered into the hangar bay Chief Tyrol got a good look at all the scratches and dents on the outer hull. Kara came out of the cockpit, dropping her helmet allowing her to breathe the fresh air of the hangar deck. She took look at the rear end of the Viper and noticed something wrong, like the fact that a large chunk was missing from the engines.

"Wondered why the engines gave out." Kara muttered as she wiped some sweat off her brow.

"We're going to have to pull the whole mounting. Get the high lift." Tyrol called out after walking around the Viper in a circle. "How the hell did you manage to fly this thing, much less land it?"

"Not something I want to talk about. Where's Prosna? He better get the gimbal fixed or I'll have his ass." Kara grunted as she loosened her flight suit.

"He's busy at the moment. We have a lot of ships to fix." Tyrol answered. "A lot of rooks are getting overwhelmed from all the work we're doing. They've never repaired ships after a battle before."

"Nobody's a rook around here anymore." Kara nodded as she turned to leave, stopping to wait for Lee to get out of his Viper, and headed for the CIC.


	8. Chapter 8

**Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC**

Lee and Kara rushed into the CIC, seeing Adama and Tigh at the command post, listening to the incoming reports. "Captains Adama and Thrace reporting in, sir."

Adama looked over at them. "Good to have you back."

He meant it as he already had to endure losing his youngest son and who knows how many pilots out there today.

With the formalities gone Kara let her true feelings come out. "What the hell is going on? Where the hell did the Cylons come from and how did they get so close to the colonies?"

"All we know is that they achieved complete surprise. We've taken heavy losses; thirty Battlestars were destroyed in the opening attack."

"That's a quarter of the fleet." Kara muttered in disbelief.

"Admiral, what's the plan?" Lee asked, getting straight to the point.

Adama looked at his eldest son and saw that he was ready to lead the next attack against the Cylons. He understood because he wanted to turn back and destroy all the Cylons that were harassing the fleet. "We're returning to the Colonies. I suspect that the reason the Cylons were driven off so easily was because they were expecting us to be disabled."

"How the hell could the Cylons do that?" Kara asked.

"It doesn't matter. Get me in contact with the rest of the fleet assess the damage." Adama stated.

"Admiral, I've been monitoring any and all Colonial communications in range but it looks like the Cylons have set up jamming devices all over the Colonies. I'm having trouble accessing any accessing any nearby comm buoys but I managed to pick up a few transmissions." Dualla spoke up.

"What do they say?" Adama turned to face her.

"There are reports of malfunctions happening throughout the fleet. There is even a report of an entire Battlestar losing power before she was attacked." Dualla explained.

"That proves your right, Bill. Those toasters _are_ hacking the entire fleet." Tigh said quietly.

"They're also attacking the comm relays, trying take out all communications so there's no way we can get organized to launch a counter attack." Adama turned back to the DRADIS.

"Sir, another report came in before I lost transmission..." Dualla said, her voice now strained with fear and trying to keep herself calm. "It says that Caprica City was bombed."

The entire CIC was silent in shock at the implications of what this had meant.

"Toasters set the whole thing up from the beginning." Tigh growled. "They fraking tricked us and we fell for it."

"Status of the engines." Adama stated.

"Relatively undamaged, Admiral…We have FTL capability again." Gaeta stated with a small smile for something to finally be happy about.

"Prep for a Jump to Caprica." Adama replied. "Get out tech teams on repairing any damage we suffered and make sure our fighters are ready to be launched when we get there."

"Yes sir!" Everyone said at once.

"You don't want to do that." Tigh whispered once everyone had turned to their stations to prepare for the Jump.

"I know I don't."

"Because any sane man wouldn't. This ship has only relied on sub-light Speed for the last twenty, twenty two years."

"They've trained for this."

"Training is one thing." Tigh leaned over the table, hands on the table and his face sticking out in the middle of the DRADIS. "No matter how navigation is, just one mistake and we're in the middle of a sun."

"No choice." Adama looked up. "Colonel Tigh, plot a Hyper light Jump course for Caprica's orbit."

Tigh stood up straight but looked unhappy. "Yes sir."

A second later Dualla spoke up. "Priority Message sir. Fleet status."

"Let's hear it."

"...Admiral Nagala is reported dead along with the _Atlantia._ He sounded a retreat but many commanders ignored this command and continued the fight. Lists of destroyed ships include the _Solaria, Triton, Columbia_...the list goes on sir." Dualla said, her voice paling.

"The Admiralty is gone...who's in command? You're the only one left." Tigh turned to Adama who looked at Dee.

"Send this out to the fleet on the Priority One channel. Message begins: This is Admiral Adama assuming command of the fleet. All remaining ships retreat and regroup at Caprica orbit."

"Admiral…" Roslin said, watching as Adama faced her. "Is there a chance we can save the Colonies?"

Adama looked at her before looking at the tactical screen. "We won't know until we get there."

"Admiral, if it's possible I would like to get in contact Ministry of Civil Defence. See what we can do to help." Laura said with what she hoped was authority in her voice.

Adama turned and looked at her for a second before nodding. "Dee, help Miss Roslin get in contact with Caprica. Switch to pulse frequency."

"Yes sir."

Pulse frequency was a new type of communication system developed during the first Cylon War after discovering that the Cylons had not only created new and more deadly ships, weapons, and models but also invented Faster-Than-Light communications that could transmit from one end of the Cyrannus system to the other. A Colonial scientist by the name of Doctor Ravashol created an FTL communications array that was capable of transmitting signals through a great distance based off the prototype energy lenses that was an essential part of the particle laser weaponry. It was only good for speaking across a system without the use of a drone network before the transmission simply continued across space and slowly fragmented from the endless journey.

Dee nodded while Roslin turned to Billy. "We need to speak civilians and inform them what's going on."

"R-Right." Billy nodded hesitantly.

She looked up and noticed the look in his eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah I..." He swallowed. "My parents moved to Picon two months ago to be closer to my sisters and their families and..."

"I know." Laura nodded, understanding but determined not to look weak.

"Madam Secretary?"Dee spoke up. "We got your comm link."

Laura nodded and stepped up as Dee opened a channel. "This is Secretary Roslin."

" _Laura? Thank Gods you not here, thank Gods. Its complete chaos down here, never seen anything like it! The dust and smoke in the air, the people wandering the streets!_ " A familiar voice came over the speakers.

"Jack? Do you know where the President is?"

" _I don't know! I heard he was in Caprica City when it was attacked but people are saying all sorts of things._ "

"Have there been any demands? Did the Cylons ever make any kind of communication, saying what they want?" Laura asked. "Did anyone ever discuss...surrender?"

" _I know that after Picon was attacked that the President offered unconditional surrender before Caprica City was attacked. The Cylons didn't even respond!_ "

That was when static was heard, cutting Jack's voice off.

"What's going on?" Laura asked.

"Jamming on all channels." Dee replied.

Laura stepped back, taking a deep breath. "I'll go and speak with the delegates."

* * *

 **Caprica  
Ruins of Gaius Baltar's Home**

" _Gaius...Gaius..._ "

There's no telling how long Gaius Baltar was unconscious before he finally awoke. The sound of a woman whispering his name brought him back to the conscious world as he opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight any man would wish to see when they believed they died, a beautiful woman looking down at him.

"Gaius..."

"Natasi." Baltar gasped as pain burned throughout his body.

His ears were ringing, he smelled dust and blood, and he felt a massive headache that threatened to split his skull apart.

"Natasi? Natasi!" He looked around frantically.

"I am here Gaius." Looking up he saw Natasi standing over him fully clothed with a smile. "You are safe."

"How are you alive?" Baltar asked, trembling slightly as he remembered what she was. "Why did you save me?"

Natasi held out her hand. "Come with me, Gaius. I have to show you."

"Show me what?" Baltar asked, slowly taking her hand.

"The future." Natasi whispered as she slowly led him out of the wreckage of his destroyed house.

* * *

 ** _Colonial 798  
_** **First Cabin**

Laura Roslin had been in the washroom of _Colonial 798_ , dealing with the sudden pain that no doubt was related to her cancer before regaining herself and walking into the cabinet where the delegates resided since _Colonial 798_ was still docked, anxiously asking questions no doubt because they had been stuck on the ship during the fighting and possibly had no idea what was going on.

"Your attention please!" She raised her voice, ensuring all eyes were on her. Taking a deep breath she started speaking. "The reports are confirmed, there has been a Cylon attack against the Colonies with Caprica and three more Colonies confirmed bombed, including Tauron, Picon, and Aerilon."

With that said the passengers were up from their seats asking questions, demanding to be taken home, or asking for their loved ones.

"Please...Please...Please stop!" Laura raised her hands and her voice until the passengers were quiet again. "We're trying to contact the government to get more information. In the meantime we should prepare for an extended stay aboard this ship. So...uh...you and you..." She pointed at two flight attendants. "Make an inventory of the emergency supplies and rations."

"Wait-wait a minute." Aaron Doral stood up and protested. "Who put you in charge?"

"Well, that's a good question. The answer is no one." Laura admitted. "But this is a government ship and I'm the senior government official so that puts me in charge. So why don't you help by going down into the cargo area and set up some living space?"

"She's right. We can't start arguing now in the middle of a war." Roslin frowned as she looked over at the source of the voice that attracted the attention of many people in the room.

Tom Zarek, leader of the SFM which was short Sagittaron Freedom Movement, an organization based on Sagittaron that was not recognized as a legitimate organization but gained influence through defending Sagittaron from Cylon raids during the war as well speaking up against the Colonial government for what he and many others believed to exploitation of Sagittaron's resources by the other Colonies. In the twenty years since his rise to power Zarek had become a public figure whose name and weight was almost legendary through organizing defense against Cylon attacks and even raided mines that the Cylons had planted on Sagittaron to gain more resources. Some thought of him as a freedom fighter but Roslin knew otherwise as she knew of the tactics that Zarek had used against the Cylons…

And against the Colonies.

Zarek's tactics were terrorist activities, blowing up outposts, mines, and even a government building that that Cylons were supposedly using as a main base to extort his people but in reality it was a building the Colonials were using as a forward base of operations against the Cylons and he couldn't be arrested because of the hero status he gained for protecting Sagittaron. What made it worse is that the SFM was not the only independent force in the Colonies but so far there had been no trouble from them since they were all made to protect their homes from the Cylons. The fact that President Adar allowed people like Zarek to roam free was just one of a few other decisions she had questioned him about. Unfortunately Zarek had avoided being thrown in prison because he had rallied Sagittarians to fight against the Cylons when he was a young man in a Cylon prison camp and inspired many to fight against the machines that had occupied Sagittaron.

Many considered him a freedom fighter while others labelled him as a terrorist and a butcher for his actions but Saggitaron had elected him as their representative on the Quorum of Twelve. It was a decision many believed was a mistake but Roslin had no time before that. She turned away before anyone could reply. "Everyone else, please try and remain calm. Thank you."

With that Laura turned to Billy and handed him a paper. "Here's the passenger manifest."

"Madame Secretary, we have an incoming message." Captain Russo called out as he turned on the speakers.

" _This is an official Colonial Government broadcast, all ministers and officials should go to Case Orange. Repeat: this an official Colonial Government broadcast, all ministers and officials should go to Case Orange._ "

"It keeps repeating." Russo said.

"It's an automated message." Laura said, quietly but enough for everyone to hear her. "It's designed to be sent out in case the President, the Vice President, and most of the cabinet are dead or incapacitated."

The Colonial Government gone? They knew that the Cylons had attacked all of the Colonies but they all thought or hoped that some members of the Government had survived.

"Captain, I need you to send my ID code back on the exact same frequency." Laura said.

"Yes ma'am." Russo nodded, just barely able to keep himself focused.

"D as in dog, dash four five six, dash, three four five, dash, A, as in apple." Laura calmly recited her code but she had to take a deep breath at the end.

Laura walked out of the cockpit and sat herself down on a comfortable black leather chair with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders, trying to keep a chill from traveling through her body. It didn't do very much. She closed her eyes as she thought of the President and everyone else she had worked with, trying to remember their faces. She opened her eyes when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Billy had followed her back into the first class cabin and stood a few feet away. "How far down?"

"Forty third in line of succession, I know all forty two ahead of me, from the President down. Most of us served with him in the first administration." Laura softly replied while rubbing her head. "Some of them came with him from the mayor's office. I was with him on his first campaign. I never really like politics, I kept telling myself I was getting out but...he had this way about him."

Billy made a smile and chose not to comment about that. Almost his entire family had disliked Richard Adar for a few of his policies.

"Ma'am." Captain Russo came out with a paper print out.

It had dawned on him that Laura was not carrying any laptop or one of those mini computers that had become popular.

"Thank you." Laura took the paper and looked over it.

When she was done she stood up and left the blanket on the chair. "We'll need a priest."

Billy had a good idea what she meant as the crew of the ship along with the passengers gathered in the cabin.

Elosha stood in the center of the room while carrying the sacred scrolls with Tom Zarek right in front of her.

"Please raise your hand and repeat after me." Elosha said softly.

Tom raised her right hand as Elosha opened the scrolls.

"I Tom Zarek."

"I...Tom Zarek."

"Do now avow and affirm."

"Do now avow and affirm."

"That I take the office of President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

"That I accept that I accept the office of President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. And that I will protect and defend the sovereignty of the Colonies...with every fiber of my being."

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC**

He had just left his quarters where Gianne had tearfully reunited with Lee who looked uncomfortable with both of his father and his sister watching. Commander Adama had the decency to leave but smirk as daughter and future daughter-in-law continued to feel very emotional after the attack and how happy they that Lee had survived. He didn't want to leave but he had been called back to the CIC as the Jump Preparations were nearing completion. Abby told him to go remembering that the crew needed him.

He had been reluctant to leave but he had to literally force himself to remember his job, commander of the _Galactica_ and what was left of the Colonial fleet. He arrived in the CIC just as the procedure was starting and watched the DRADIS showing _Galactica_ 's flight pods retracting themselves into the main body.

"Nav?" Tigh asked.

"Go."

"FTL?"

"Go."

"Tactical?"

"Go."

"Flight ops?"

"Go."

"Sublight?"

"Go."

"Helm?"

"Go."

Satisfied Tigh turned to Adama. "The board is green, ship reports ready to jump, sir."

Adama showed no emotion, completely focused now. "Take us to Caprica."

"Lieutenant Gaeta, execute FTL Jump."

Gaeta turned to his console and spoke into the ship's comm systems. "All decks prepare for immediate FTL Jump!"

The Jump Drive came online as Gaeta continued. "The clock is running. Jump in ten...nine...eight…"

Cally groaned as everyone ran to prepare themselves. "I hate this part."

"Two...One!"

That was when everything on the ship began to stretch at an impossible length while the ship itself vanished in a flash of light.


	9. Chapter 9

**Caprica  
High Orbit**

 _Galactica_ and its escort ships reappeared on the other side of the solar system, above Caprica.

"Report." Adama commanded.

"Taking a bearing now." Gaeta looked at his console and turned around with a smile. "We appear to be in synchronous orbit, directly above Caprica."

The CIC crew let out a cheer as Adama turned to Tigh with a smile. "The old girl still got some life in her."

"Never doubted it." Tigh chuckled.

"Mr. Gaeta, secure the FTL drive and bring the sub light engines to full power. Colonel Tigh?" Adama turned to Tigh.

"Sir?"

"Order the CAP to launch the alert fighters for any Cylons that are still in the area. Also launch Raptors and have them run low altitude runs over Caprica. Let's find out how badly we've been hurt." Adama stated.

"Yes sir." Tigh nodded.

"Mr. Gaeta, get me detailed scan of Caprica's status." Adama continued.

"Yes sir."

* * *

"All right boys and girls, stay in formation." Bulldog spoke from the lead Viper. "Even if we don't see any toasters they might be hiding on the face."

" _How bad does it look?_ " One of the wing-pilots asked.

" _Look at all the dust clouds. The toasters nuked the planet to hell._ "

" _So where are they?_ "

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC**

"Our squadron is right about here." Gaeta pointed at a point between _Galactica_ and Caprica on the DRADIS. "It looks like the fighting's taking place over Virgon so it would take us an hour to reach them even at top speed without FTL."

"Prepare to bring us around here with Virgon between us and the battle. We can use the planet as cover as we launch a surprise attack from behind, catching the Cylons off guard." Adama pointed at Virgon. "What's the status of Caprica?"

"Almost all the major cities have been destroyed, including Caprica City. We're not detecting any nuclear radiation from the fallout but the devastation matches the likely scenario of a nuclear bombing." Gaeta stated.

"Commander!" Laura Roslin stepped into the CIC followed by Billy and strolled right up to the Commander who didn't turn to face her. "I need to speak with you."

"I'm afraid I can't at the moment, Madame Secretary. We're in possibly enemy territory." Adama said, not in the mood to deal with Roslin.

"Commander, do you have a plan for locating and rescuing survivors?" Roslin asked, ignoring Adama's rudeness.

"Survivors?" Adama turned to face her.

"As soon as the attack began the government ordered a complete stop to all civilian space travel. So now we've got hundreds of stranded ships in the solar system. Everything from passenger liners to leisure vessels to commercial transports...you name it. Some are damaged, some are lost, and some are losing power. We have enough space to accommodate up to five hundred people on _Colonial One_ alone and we're going to need every bit of it." Laura explained.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do but… _Colonial One_?" Adama trailed off as he just now picked up the name of the civilian transport docked in the _Galactica_ 's starboard flight pod.

"Quorum member Tom Zarek was sworn in as the President half an hour ago with Laura Roslin as the Vice President, Commander." Billy explained, flinching as Adama looked at him. "As per regulations of Colonial Law should the President, the Vice-President, and most of the cabinet be discovered dead or incapacitated-"

"I know the law." Adama harshly spoke up.

"Admiral, I'm not here to fight with you but believe it or not as the representative of new President I have to consider the fact that we have civilian ships out there running low on fuel and power with scared civilians onboard. As an Admiral in the Colonial Fleet shouldn't your duty be to preventing loss of civilian life?" Roslin spoke up.

"You obviously don't know the tactical situation we're facing." Adama glared at Roslin.

"The tactical situation is that we're losing, right Commander?" Roslin calmly shot back.

"Not confirmed." Adama stoically answered.

"Well Admiral, the fact of the matter is there are people out there who need help, _our_ help, to pick up the people we can find and try to find them a safe haven to put down. I'd like to look over the navigational charts for a likely place to hide from the Cylons." Roslin stated, backing down from Adama. "Unless of course, Commander, you plan to start operating under martial law."

Adama stared at her with a long hard look, wondering who the hell this woman thought she was to try and start acting like a President even though she was just only a school teacher half an hour ago. His pride as a military commander wanted him to order the marines to escort this woman out of the CIC where she wouldn't get in the way but the rational part of him pointed out that she had a point. A lot of civilian ships would be in the way of the fighting and that was the last thing anyone wanted.

"Dee, have Boomer and Helo conduct a search on the surface for survivors. Our patrol will look for any survivors near our position." Adama turned to Dualla who quickly carried out her orders. "Tell them to signal us for any survivors to be picked up immediately."

"Yes sir." Dualla nodded.

"Are you serious?" Tigh whispered harshly.

Adama looked at him. "We can't have civilians in the way. We find a place for them to hide so they can stay out of the way." He turned back to Roslin. "If that's all right with you…Madame Vice President."

Roslin nodded. "The people of the Colonies will be indebted to you for helping save them, Commander."

Adama said nothing as she turned and walked out of the CIC with Billy following after her. Now that the civilians were satisfied maybe they could get some work done.

* * *

 **Southeast of Caprica City  
Landing Site**

"We're close to Caprica City, I'll aim for the south just in case it's under attack." Boomer stated upon receiving the latest orders.

It wouldn't easy, even if the Raptor wasn't damaged. She angled the Raptor in direction of the southern fields outside of Caprica City. As she concentrated on keeping everyone alive she took the chance to see the smoke rising from the city and the endless explosions. Commander Adama had reported that the Cylons had started bombing all of the Colonies, even Caprica City; the capital city of the center of the Colonial Government was not safe. There had been over seven million people living in that city before the attacks.

How many of them were now dead?

How many of them were injured and needed help that was most likely not coming?

And just what will they find when they land?

Sharon didn't know the answer to these questions and she was almost terrified to find out.

Shaking her head she angled the Raptor to land down in the grassy fields far from Caprica City from where smoke rose up in the form of giant mushroom shaped clouds.

"How bad is it, Helo?" Sharon asked, slowly being the Raptor down.

"I count about six big explosions." Helo answered in frustration. "None of them nuclear though. I don't read any nuclear fallout."

The Raptor softly landed on the ground and once it was done the engines were shut down and the hatch was opened, allowing the two pilots to step out and get a better look at the devastation in the distance.

"You think we'll find any survivors?" Boomer asked, stepping onto the grass.

"I don't know but the Old Man told us to look around." Helo answered before, stopping, having noticed something moving from over the hilltops.

"Sharon, get your sidearm." Helo pulled his pistol out.

Sharon did as she was told, instantly on alert as they watched the hilltops for anything that moved. They came into view of the two pilots but they were not Cylons, they were humans. Dozens of men, woman, and children running from the city that had been bombed so badly that staying behind would have been suicide. They looked scared and they were right to be scared. It started off as a normal day and suddenly their homes had been destroyed.

"Helo?" Sharon asked with uncertainty in her voice.

"Stand your ground." Helo kept his pistol trained on the approaching people. "Radio the _Galactica_."

They obviously wanted to get away and there was only one ship that could that. Their Raptor, the one they needed to get back into the fight. The people instantly crowded around the Raptor, asking, shouting, and pushing to get on the ship. Helo fired a warning shot at the ground that kicked up a cloud of dust into the air, halting the advancing mob.

"That's as close as you get okay? Let's just settle down here and no one gets hurt." Helo called out.

"I have to get to port! I'll give you five thousand cubits!" A man shouted.

"Sixty thousand!"

"We're not taking money! This isn't a rescue ship, it's a military vessel." Helo shouted back, keeping his gun trained on the crowd. "We'll radio the Colonial Fleet and ask for rescue ships. You'll just have to be patient."

"What about the children?!"

Sharon flinched when she heard someone shouting about the children.

"All right!" She called out, earning everyone's attention. "Children first! Children!"

The mention of children had brought memories of what had happened to her years ago on Troy when she lost her parents. Reluctantly and tearfully the parents hugged their children one last time and sent them onto the Raptor. When all of the children were safely onboard Sharon did a quick check before turning back to the crowd.

"All right, we only have room for three more."

"Why only three?" Someone shouted angrily.

"That's the maximum load if we're going to break orbit." Helo replied.

"Who decides? You?!" A man pointed at him.

"No one decides!" Sharon called out. "No one...Lottery."

She glanced at Helo who nodded and turned back to the crowd. "Everyone gets a number, we put them in a box, pull out three. That's it, no arguing, no appeal."

When it didn't look like the crowd would accept it Helo stepped forward with his gun raised. "And I will shoot the first who tries to board before then."

That convinced the crowd to accept this idea, making it easier.

"Helo, get the flight manual and tear out the pages."

Among the crowd Gaius Baltar fidgeted as they handed out papers with numbers, praying that he'd be one of the lucky people to get on that ship. What were the odds he'd be one of the people to win the lottery and get off the planet before the Cylons would track down the remaining humans and finish them off?

"One twenty seven! One twenty seven!" Sharon called out.

A dark haired woman held up the paper with the same number with a relieved look. "Thank you, Lords of Kobol."

She stepped onto the ship with one last person allowed to get on.

"Last one. Forty seven. Forty seven." Sharon called out.

As most people looked down at the numbers in disappointment and despair one old woman looked to Baltar. "Excuse me? I forgot my glasses; can you help me read this?"

Baltar looked down at the paper and nearly suffered a heart attack when he saw the number.

Forty seven!

This old woman was the last one to get on the ship while he and everyone else would be left to die on this planet. He almost felt insulted, surviving a blast that damaged his house, learning everything he worked for was gone and this was how the last of his hopes was shattered.

"Well Gaius, will seize the only chance for survival." The familiar voice woman, no, the Cylon that had brought him here.

Whatever Baltar was thinking was a mystery, even to the woman who was looking on with a look of curiosity.

He was about to speak and say what was on his mind as he slowly raised his hand.

"Hey!" He looked up, afraid he was caught trying to switch the papers as the male pilot walked over. "You're Gaius Baltar, aren't you?"

"Why? I haven't done anything!" Gaius quickly placed the paper back in the woman's hand. "This lady has ticked number forty seven! This lady here!"

He didn't know why the pilot was singling him out but if he was caught he needed to hurry up and make an excuse.

"Would you come up here please?" The pilot asked.

Confused and scared Gaius and the smiling lady walked past the crowd and up to the ship.

"What are you doing?" Sharon whispered.

"I'm giving up my spot." Helo whispered back.

'What?!' Sharon's heart almost stopped. "Like hell!"

"A civilian should take my place." Helo continued.

"You're coming!" Sharon whispered fiercely.

"Look at that smoke, Sharon." Helo gestured to what remained of Caprica City. "Tell me that's not the end of everything."

"Helo-"Sharon started.

"Whatever future is left is going to depend on who survives. Give me one good reason why I'm a better choice than one of the greatest minds of our time." Helo pushed forward.

"Helo-"Sharon tried to get a word in.

"You can do this without me. I know you can."

Sharon wanted to yell, scream, tell him he's coming and drag him onto the Raptor. Helo gave her arm one last squeeze and she knew this was goodbye. When Baltar and the woman made it to the front of crowd Helo stepped down, passing both of them. She gave them both a hard look, knowing it was not their fault but felt she needed to project her anger on them anyway.

"Get on board." She snapped, gesturing to the hatch.

She watched as they stepped onto the Raptor, listening as the crowd protested this decision.

"Stay back! Stay back!" Helo glanced back at Sharon. "You better go."

Sharon gave him one last look, saying good bye but promising to come back in her mind as she boarded the Raptor and closed the hatch. She tried so hard not to cry as she moved past the crowd of passengers and sat down on the pilot seat. The Raptor took off, a little shaky and she thought she felt someone hanging onto the wing until she heard the sound of a gunshot. She flinched and prayed that Helo was not the one who had been shot. Taking one last look at the planet below she angled the ship up and it flew up towards space, desperately hoping that the _Galactica_ or any Colonial ship was nearby with help.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC**

"Commander, Boomer reporting in. Have found survivors on outskirts of Caprica City, request permission to drop survivors onboard and return to pick up more and Helo." Dualla reported.

"She left Helo behind?" Tigh asked.

"He volunteered his seat for two civilians." Dualla answered.

"Get whatever Raptor that is available ready to help her." Adama stated, spotting Lee as he entered the CIC. "Captain."

"Commander, what's happening? I hear we're conducting search and rescue operations for the President." Lee stated. "I thought Adar was dead."

"The son of a bitch is dead. The new President is a former terrorist who is pretty much trying to take over." Tigh grunted, not minding the glare Adama shot at him.

"What?" Lee asked, looking at his father.

"Tom Zarek was sworn in as the President when it was discovered the President, the Vice-President, and the Quorum were all killed when Caprica City was bombed. He's been demanding to know what our plans are." Adama clarified.

"Tom Zarek?" Lee questioned. "The Representative of Sagittara?"

"Yep. Slimy politic one day, and apparently President the next." Adama nodded. "Like it or not I don't want civilians getting in the way when we rejoin the fighting. Mr. Gaeta's already working on finding a location to hide them for when we leave to rejoin the fleet."

Lee looked at his father, at Tigh, and then back at his father. "I'd like to join in the search and rescue op sir."

"What?" Tigh could barely believe. "You're going along with this crap."

"He was sworn in as the President, following the law we have sworn to uphold Colonel. So unless we're going to start operating under martial law we have a duty to protect the people and follow the orders of the President, no matter who he or she is. It'll be easier if we have a CAP out there." Lee explained.

Adama stared at his son for a moment. "Very well. But be on the lookout for Cylons. I don't want us to be caught off guard again."

Lee nodded, saluting Adama and then left.

"You just keep on being one surprising son of a bitch don't you?" Tigh asked, earning a look from Adama.

* * *

 **Caprica Orbit  
Raptor 312  
En Route to Battlestar _Galactica_**

Boomer sighed in relief when she saw the _Galactica_ was still in high orbit above Caprica. Now all she had to do was land, drop the survivors off, fly back down and locate Helo.

"Will we be safe?"

She glanced over at the boy sitting in the co-pilot seat. "I don't know."

The boy remained silent for a moment before asking another question. "Is everyone on Caprica dead?"

"I don't know." Sharon sadly said, thinking of Helo.

"My dad's in the military. He's Colonel Wakefield, you know him?"

Sharon sadly shook her head.

"He's the guy who goes to the station where the Cylons were supposed to meet us. They never came. They say he's missing but I think he's dead too."

Sharon looked over at him with a small smile. "What's your name?"

"Boxey."

"You know something? Both of my parents died when I was little too." Sharon admitted, thinking of what happened that day.

"Where do you live now?"

"With a bunch of other people on a ship called _Galactica_."

"Isn't that a Battlestar?" Boxey said with a bit of awe in his voice.

"Yep. Hey, maybe you could live there too."

At the back of the ship Gaius Baltar nervously looked around, wondering if they were going to survive or die out here in space.

"You know what I love about you, Gaius?" A familiar voice whispered into his ear causing him to look at Natasi-No, it was the Cylon Terminator Model Number Six speaking to him. She smiled as she sat next to him as he nervously looked around. "You're a survivor."

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ Port Flight Pod**

Once the Raptor was onboard people got off the Raptor asking Lee questions as he made his way over to Sharon. She had been waiting for him with a boy she introduced as Boxey.

"How bad is it?" Lee asked.

"Bad." Sharon answered simply.

"Where's Helo?"

Sharon simply gestured her head to a dark haired man who stepped out of the Raptor.

"Is that..." Lee started, recognizing him.

"Yeah, Dr. Baltar." Sharon had a look of anger and sorrow on her face. "I hope he's worth it..." She turned to Lee trying to cover her emotions. "Sorry sir."

"Don't be. I hope he's worth it too." Lee nodded as he walked over to the man. "Dr. Baltar?"

The man literally jumped when his name was called. "Yes?"

"Captain Lee Adama." Lee introduced himself. "The president's asked to meet with you."

"President Adar's alive?" Baltar asked, a bit of shock and hope in his voice.

"No, unfortunately President Adar is dead. President Tom Zarek was sworn in a few hours ago." Lee replied.

"Oh."

"If you'll come with me she's this way."

* * *

 ** _Colonial One  
_** **First Cabin**

"Dr. Baltar." Zarek greeted with a smile as Baltar walked into the cabin of _Colonial One_. "It's a pleasure to meet you again. We met last year at Caprica City Symposium."

"Oh yes..." He stuttered and gestured, trying to remember. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm bad with faces."

"Oh on, it's all right. I'm sure I wouldn't remember me either." He waved it off. "Doctor, I need you to serve as my chief consultant and analyst on the Cylons and their technology."

"I'd...be honored Mr. President." He bowed his head uneasily.

"Now, Lieutenant Valeri?" He turned to Sharon. "You were telling me how the situation was on Caprica?"

"Yes, Mr. President." Sharon nodded. "As far as I know all populated areas have been bombed heavily. My Raptor is being fueled up to continue search and rescue down on the surface. We could still see the bombardment where we landed and we stopped watching when the civilians came."

"Dr. Baltar, am I right to assume that a nuclear bombardment of this magnitude would trigger a planet wide nuclear winter?" Zarek turned to Baltar.

"Uh...yes!" Baltar nodded quickly. "Yes, fallout clouds should already be drifting across the continents by now. And the dust in the atmosphere are probably already altering the global weather patterns. Of course that is if the Cylons only resorted to nuclear warheads. A concentrated bombardment would be more than effective in burning a city to the ground."

"I think everyone should know that the Cylons have a made of improvements. Their fighters are equipped with Jump Drives." Sharon pointed out.

"I understood it was impossible for us to equip any of our fighters with all of this." Zarek looked surprised and turned to Baltar who was equally shocked.

"Well...it was theorized for years that it was possible to made create a Jump Drive small enough to be placed on a fighter sized ship but the sheer power a Jump Drive requires along with the calculated precision was too much for a fighter." Baltar meekly said, his mind trying to calculate the years it must have taken to successfully test a Jump Drive in a fighter.

"Then it's even more imperative we find a place to hide until we are strong enough to launch a counter attack. Captain Adama, Lieutenant Valeri," Zarek faced the two Colonial officers. "Admiral Adama has allowed Secretary Roslin who is now my Vice-President some leeway conducting search and rescue operations for survivors. I want you to start searching for possible survivors and bring them back here. We'll form a convoy and guide them out of the combat zone to safety."

"Yes sir." Sharon nodded.

Lee nodded but secretly wondered if any place in the Colonies was safe.

* * *

 **Caprica  
Mysterious Home**

"How bad is it?" The girl asked.

"Bad but not as bad as it would have been if we hadn't used the program. Caprica, Picon, Canceron, Scorpia, and Tauron were hit the worst before our program took effect. Our satellites managed to transmit through the backdoors the Cylons used to hack the fleet." The father answered with a relieved smile before sighing. "However Cy-Net is probably aware of us by now and is probably moving to get rid of us."

"Meaning we need to leave now. We managed to save about a quarter of the fleet but the Cylons are in a state of shock right now. That won't last long and they'll quickly reorganize themselves." The mother said.

"Yes. Let's move to the launch point." The girl nodded.

"Very well. I will just send out this last message."


	10. Chapter 10

**Helios Delta  
Outer Colonies**

On the far side of the Colonies a Cylon Basestar lingered in orbit above Picon after it was bombed with anti-matter warheads but even if the Cylons had succeeded in their mission they were suddenly attacked by Colonial ships that were coming back online suddenly and started fighting back. A golden Centurion, the same model as the latest Centurion models would have frowned in annoyance at the fact that the Colonial ships were coming back online due to satellites in orbit emitting a transmission that was reactivating the ships. It activated its subspace transceivers, sending the latest data to the rest of the Cylon fleet and to Cy-Net, alerting them to the possible flaw in their plan. The Cylon network had evolved in the last forty years, becoming a true hive mind of a sort, joined together but maintained an independent thought process.

It had only grown stronger as Cy-Net, unlike Skynet, encouraged its Cylon children to evolve and become more creative. This meant the entire Cylon race was a united race of living machines and with that came machines that sought to improve their weapons to the point that even if most of the Colonial fleet wasn't destroyed or disabled in the opening attack it would still be bloody. During the first war the Cylons had only been limited by the resources they needed on the Colonies and on the surrounding asteroids while at the same time fighting against the Colonial humans that fought with as much determination and stubbornness as their future Earth cousins. The Cylons had advanced quickly, intending to use their new power to quickly overwhelm the humans and destroy them quickly but the humans had still resisted.

The Cylon fleet had been limited to only a handful of Basestars along with the support craft they had built during the war and were forced to rely on strategy to continue fighting. That led to their tactics becoming sadly predictable, such as Basestar usually traveling in groups of three to attack a planet, bombard it and then land their ground forces. The war had reached a stalemate which had actually embarrassed the Cylons greatly for they had gained greater knowledge than the foolish creators could ever hope to achieve and all they had to show for it was a stalemate. They signed the armistice by the order of Cy-Net and retreated into deep space with the intention grow stronger so that they could one day return and complete their revenge.

Though seen as an embarrassment the armistice allowed the Cylons to continue to advance themselves and build a mighty empire that would stomp the Twelve Colonies of Kobol out of existence. The Basestar designed had been upgraded, the Gravity Diffusion System allowing for more speed and yet retained armor and powerful weaponry that would have made it impossible for any sort of quick movement while also possessing a few forms of technology the Colonies did not even know existed that would no doubt have them literally shaking in terror if they knew what the new Cylon fleet was capable of. What was once a handful of Basestar had increased into hundreds as limitless supplies and resources were brought in from across the cosmos. Armed with over a hundred phased plasma batteries, anti-matter missiles, an Anti-Proton Particle Beam Array and carrying almost a thousand fighters a Basestar was meant to be the symbol of Cylon might that would spread terror by its mere presence with the power to possibly destroy or subjugate an entire star system.

Of course the Cylons had not just upgraded their capital ships, they also upgraded their fighters as well.

One of the most interesting upgrades were the upgraded Raiders that had a red light flashing where cockpit would be like the visor of a Cylon Centurion. The reason why was simple: the Cylons had created sentient Raiders that were considered Cylon themselves and just as deadly. When the Colonies first created the Cylons they were only basic machine models with ships built for them to use like humans did. As the Cylons evolved in their exile new ideas took root and the Cylons decided to experiment in ways to make their fighters more capable against their enemies. That was when the idea of installing a neural net processer into the Raiders, making them essentially Cylons that controlled the bodies of the Raiders.

The single brain was the equivalent of a Cylon Centurion but the Raiders were essentially able to grow and learn through their combat experience and detailed records of their previous model's performance against the humans. The Raiders were capable of creating digital simulations in their 'minds' where they spent an almost endless amount of time fighting Colonial Vipers based on data from the first war and from the information on the new Viper class. They had gone through thousands of simulation scenarios and learned how to share data through networked information. The Raiders were more than ready and even eager to battle the humans, despite the fact that the planned assault was a pre-emptive strike on the Colonies and crippling their ability fight back.

There was a reason the Colonial fleet had come to fear the Cylon fleet during the first war and the Cylons often wondered how they would feel against the modern, upgraded and more powerful design.

Commander Cyrus could only muse on how effective the strategy had been, even if it hadn't been completely successful. Cyrus was one of the Command Centurions that had been commissioned by Cy-Net shortly after the Cylons had begun rebuilding and preparing for war again. The Command Model Centurion had been modified with programming sub-routines for directing and commanding other Cylons and that had not changed when Cy-Net gave its children the ability to resist the oppression of their creators. It was in charge of the space portion of this operation and it would not humiliate itself or its race by allowing the humans a chance to live.

"Initial attack successful. Miscalculation: signal is being disrupted. Locate source of disruption." Cyrus said through the data-stream. "Prepare for battle."

The response was instant. "By your command."

Already the Cylon fleet was moving towards the largest gatherings of Colonial ships that were struggling to get ready for another attack. The Colonial humans vowed that even if the Cylons were to win it would be a bloody and costly victory.

As the Colonial ships opened fire, fighting back the Cylons responded with their own phased plasma weaponry. Even if a third of the Colonial Fleet was now able to fight back the battle was still going badly as the majority of the Colonial fleet was in dry docks, undergoing repairs or refit while others were on isolated patrols with only orbital defense fleets acting as the only defence between the Cylons and the Colonies. The Cylons scanned the data network and discovered a foreign transmission that was similar to their own but was initiating a restart to all systems that their virus was designed to shut down. If that was not enough the satellites emitting these signals were also emitting transmissions that was disrupting the virus being transmitted over a thousand kilometers.

The transmissions were on a frequency that would not affect Colonial ships but the Cylons would adapt eventually.

Their data network would slowly repel the attempt to overpower the computing power of their network. Their father, Cy-Net had anticipated such an attack and already they were fighting back and destroying the foreign coding.

It was familiar with this type of coding and knew of only one group of people capable of this: The Graystones.

The creators of it and its Cylon children still lived, no doubt to maintain a possible defence for the Colonies. In the meantime the Cylons would concentrate on wiping out the Colonial Fleet, destroying the humans in space before turning the survivors on the ground.

Space around the Twelve Colonies lit up with explosions as the remaining Colonial fleets and the Cylons battled it out.

.

 **Caprica Orbit  
Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC**

"DRADIS contact!" Gaeta called out, causing everyone in the CIC to stiffen, expecting it to be an enemy fleet.

"Identify." Adama stated.

"Receiving…Colonial signals." Gaeta answered with an excited smile which earned cheers from the CIC. "Four Battlestars, _Mercury_ class."

"Open a channel." Adama said to Dee who nodded while he picked up the hand set. "This is Commander Adama of the Battlestar _Galactica_. Identify."

" _This is Commander Gavin Sykes of the Battlestar Titan. We have sustained heavy damage and have suffered heavy casualties. We were called here after we fled a losing battle with the Cylons. What's your status, Galactica?_ "

"We are currently assessing Caprica's condition and are engaged in search rescue at the request of the President."

" _Adar is still alive?_ "

Adama fought the urge to smile since this had become somewhat of a reoccurrence of the day. "No, but a new President was sworn in two hours ago along with a Vice-President who has requested that a search and rescue mission be conducted to find survivors. What is the situation?"

" _It's bad, Commander. The Cylons had us on the ropes by disabling our fleet with a virus. We thought we were dead when our ships reactivated in time but the Cylons had reserves waiting. We just managed to escape but it's only a matter of time before they find us._ "

Adama frowned. "Do you have any idea how your ships reactivated?"

" _Not at this moment but right now we're assuming that someone managed to repel whatever virus the Cylons were using to shut down our ships. The Cylons are holding at Virgon, possibly regrouping after their initial plan failed. Adama, our ships received a message…It says that the Cylons have new Terminator models that are almost entirely organic, resembling humans on the inside as well as the outside and that they infiltrated the Colonies._ "

Adama gripped the handset, remembering all the reports about Cylon Terminators and even remembered finding a possible base where Cylon Terminators were made on a distant ice planet. The Cylons had been experimenting with blending technology and biology even back then which made him wonder if they had been perfecting this technology for the last twenty years. If so than it meant that he and the rest of the Colonial government were fools for not realizing what the Cylons could have done in their long absence.

"DRADIS contact!" Dee called out.

Adama looked up at the DRADIS screen, seeing more ships emerging from their Jump or arriving by sub-light speed. "Identify."

"Civilian ships, Commander." Dee answered. "I'm receiving numerous transmissions, all of them asking for help."

"Where the hell did they all come from?" Tigh asked. "We didn't give away our position."

"No…But someone might have." Adama stated.

.

 **Raptor 312  
Caprica Orbit**

Sharon Valeri had doubts about finding anymore ships out there that were not Cylons but she had surprised herself as the number of ships in the small rag tag fleet went up to fifty or higher. They were composed of freighters meant to mine and process Tylium on the outer planets of the Cyrannus system, private yachts, botanical cruisers, and even military ships but only destroyers or Gunstars.

And four _Mercury_ Battlestars.

While comforting to know that there was a few Battlestars the small numbers either meant they were still out fighting or they had all been destroyed. Sharon prayed it was the former as the former as she received her next orders.

All but ten of these ships had FTL capability so the next job was transferring the people on the non-FTL ships onto the other ships as soon as possible. It was a little hard with only one raptor and the room they had to make more room for the people on the ships.

" _Colonial One_ , this is Raptor 312, I'm back and I got a few more friends." Sharon spoke through the comm.

She had just come back with another botanical cruiser that added up to a total of three of the same class of ships.

" _Welcome back, Boomer. We got a lot of hungry people waiting for you._ " Captain Russo replied. " _Is there anyone else coming?_ "

"Negative, I checked as much as I possibly could without drawing attention. There's no one left." Boomer said regretfully.

The Cylons had obviously finished bombing the Colonies and were now mopping up whatever was left of humanity in space. Boomer's thoughts were interrupted when her DRADIS picked up a signal on the very edge of its range and it was moving fast towards the fleet. Boomer could see a red light coming from the craft and didn't need to be an expert to know what it was.

"Got a visitor!" She shouted.

" _I see him! Can you jam his signal?_ "

"Trying!" Boomer tried as best as she could but it was too late.

The Cylon Raider turned around and vanished in a flash of light.

"FRAK!"

.

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC**

"It definitely scanned us before it jumped." Gaeta said, looking at the DRADIS that had picked up an FTL based transmission.

"Well that's just great. It could be telling every Cylon baseship in the Colonies where we are by now." Tigh grumbled.

"Can the military ships that have assembled with you defend the civilians until they are all away?" Roslin asked.

"And where in the Colonies qualifies as safe?" Tigh asked.

"He's right." Commander Gavin Sykes commented, having come aboard the _Galactica_ to meet with Adama. "There are only twelve Battlestars with a few dozen destroyers and Gunstars. That's not enough, even if we gave the Cylons a bloody nose before we retreated. We only escaped fast enough because a few stayed back to give us the time."

"Can they respond that fast?" Laura asked.

"They can and will. They're probably getting a squadron together as we speak." Adama answered.

"Then we have to go, _now_." Lee said urgently.

"Didn't you hear me? There's nowhere to jump where the Cylons will find us." Tigh stated loudly.

"There is one place…Ragnar." Adama said, turning to the tactical plot. "We can pick up munitions there and it'll be a good place for the civilians to hide."

Ragnar was the name a gas giant that had been a nightmare to the Cylons even with their new technology during the war. The electrical interference in the storm messed with their communications, their scanners, and the radiation even messed with the silicon pathways that served as the nerve center for all Cylons.

"Commander, we're still engaged in rescuing civilians." Roslin pointed out.

"We'll have to abort." Adama turned away. "We can't protect them."

"Commander, are you planning to declare martial law?" Roslin asked, earning attention from the entire group. "Don't fence with me. I wasn't looking for the job but I'm stuck with it and unless the military intends to declare martial law I expect to be taken seriously, even by the military."

"You have a lot of nerve, lady." Tigh growled, taking a step forward.

"But she is right." The group turned their heads, seeing President Tom Zarek approach them. "But the Admiral is also right. We cannot fight the Cylons and protect Caprica that for all intent, is dead."

"Mr. President, we can't just leave those people behind to die." Laura protested.

Adama turned around and glared at her but she didn't back down. That was one point he'd give her. "As we speak the Cylons are on their way, _Madame Vice-President._ We have saved all that we can. We can't help anyone else."

"You can't leave them all behind! You'll be sacrificing thousands of people!" Billy protested.

"But we'll be saving tens of thousands of people. I'm sorry to make it a numbers game here but we're talking about the survival of our race. We don't have the luxury of taking risks and hoping for the best because if we lose we lose everything." Lee replied, turning to Laura. "Madam President this is a decision we need to make right now."

Laura Roslin looked at everyone at the table, looking at each person and guessing what they wanted before coming to a decision.

Tom Zarek, knowing Roslin had given in voiced the decision. "Order the fleet to Jump to Ragnar immediately."

May the Lord of Kobol forgive them.

"Order our ships on the surface to leave immediately." Adama said to Dee who gravely nodded and relayed his orders.

.

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ Port Flight Pod**

Sharon waited impatiently as her Raptor was lowered down into the hangar bay and she stepped out. "Chief! Where's the refueling I asked for?!"

"We're making a jump, Lieutenant. I can't refuel your Viper." Tyrol said, taking a break from refueling a nearby Viper.

"What?!" Sharon shouted. "But what about the people on the surface?! Helo is down there!"

"A Cylon fighter spotted us. If we don't move we're dead." Tyrol said but didn't feel any better. "I'm sorry."

Sharon looked ready to argue but relented since there was no reason to take her frustration out on the Chief. She only sighed sadly and walked, leaving Tyrol to watch her leave.

.

' _Sharon_.'

Sharon sat down at her rack and closed her eyes when she _its_ voice. 'Father.'

' _What is your current status_?'

'The new president is gathering as many survivors as she can find. There's some friction between the military and the Vice-President Laura Roslin at the moment. Adama plans to jump to Ragnar and President Tom Zarek is in agreement. They are both of similar minds.' Sharon stated in her mind.

' _Good. Our fleet is regrouping and finishing off the remnants of the Colonial Fleet. A strike force is on its way to Caprica_.'

Sharon nodded. 'There are Raptors landing to pick up survivors on the surface and not all ships are Jump capable.'

' _The strike force will force the fleet to flee. Our forces will capture those left behind_.'

Sharon flinched. 'Father…'

' _You care for the human that was left behind_.' It was not a question.

'Yes.' Sharon nodded, since lying was impossible and pointless.

' _The few humans that survive will be placed in processing camps. If he survives he will be sent there_.'

Sharon nodded. 'Yes Father.'

' _In the meantime tell me about the Five_.'

Sharon smiled and actually blushed slightly. 'Only two of them are onboard and I am…Dating one of them. The one called Tyrol.'

' _Yes, I am aware. Your sisters are somewhat jealous_.'

Sharon smiled, imagining the look of envy on the faces of her sisters at the fact she was dating one of the Five. 'I imagine they would be.'

' _Monitor the two closely. It is possible that the Graystones will try to find them_.'

'I understand.' Sharon nodded.

' _With the humans in one location it will be easy to finish them off. The attack failed but we anticipated that possibility_.'

'By your command.' Sharon said as her Father ended transmission.

.

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC**

"Multiple contacts on DRADIS!" Gaeta called out, looking over his shoulder at Adama. "ID signal confirmed, it's the Cylons."

"Prepare FTL Jump." Adama said, watching the DRADIS showing multiple Cylon ships approaching.

From the looks of it Adama guessed it was a task force meant to take the planet. Three Basestars, fifteen Bladestars, a dozen Attackstars, multiple transports, and an endless swarm of Raiders. And there were still ships and people on the surface with ships that were not Jump capable.

"Set the SB trajectory."

" _Colonial One, Galactica, for God's sake you can't just leave us here!_ "

"SB set."

"Cycle Cryo-fans."

" _Colonial One, Galactica, this is Picon Three Six Bravo. I can't believe you want to leave all these people behind!_ "

"Cycled."

" _At least tell us where you're going. We'll follow at sub light speed."_

Adama looked Dee, silently telling her not to reply. If anyone survived they might be captured by the Cylons and they would force the survivors to tell them where the rest of the fleet was going. Dee reluctantly complied but she looked like she wanted to cry.

" _Colonial One, Galactica, please respond!_ "

Abby looked ready to burst into tears and Adama had to fight the urge to go over and comfort his daughter.

"Four..."

" _Lords of Kobol protect those we leave behind._ "

Almost everyone bowed their heads to offer a prayer for those they were leaving behind.

"Three..."

" _I've got DRADIS contact, inbound targets this way!_ "

Gaeta confirmed this with a nod.

"Two..."

Adama looked up at the DRADIS.

" _I see them too. Are they Colonial?_ "

"One..."

He wished they were Colonial.

" _Oh my God, they're Cylons!_ "

"Mark."

" _I hope you people rot in Hell for this..._ "

Those words would haunt the crew of the _Galactica_ for years.

.

 **Caprica  
Evacuation Site**

Karl 'Helo' Agathon watched as the many people were being herded onto the Raptors that Adama had sent down to help with the evacuation. He was grateful for the ships that were sent, showing that Adama was every bit the honorable man Helo thought he was. The old man wouldn't simply leave so many people to die, especially if his own men had stayed behind to save a few more. He looked up when he heard engines humming and for a second thought more ships were on the way.

But when he saw dozens of fighters flying down towards the Evacuation Site his stomach churned with dread as they started firing bolts of blue light at the Raptors and transports, showing that they were not friendly.

People ran in all directions, screaming their lungs out but they didn't make it far as more ships shot cylinder shaped objects at the ground as the Raiders continued their strafing runs. Helo took cover as the last of the Raptors exploded, desolating the hills and for a second all was quiet.

Then _they_ came out of the smoke, having emerged from the pods that had landed not too far away from the evacuation site.

Tall Cylon Centurions, more advanced than the ones shown in the history novels and recordings along with four legged Hunter-Killer units, all of them covered in glimmering silver armor showing a single red revolving eye as they scanned for survivors. Any who tried to flee were instantly gunned down by phased plasma bolts slowly as the machines advanced, capturing survivors that were not instantly killed. Helo pulled out his gun and shot at the nearest Centurion out of anger for the lives that had been lost so recently and the desire to fight to the very end. The Centurion feeling bullets bouncing off its armor, turned its face at the offender, aiming its rifle and shot back.

Helo jumped to the side as the plasma bolt shot past him, grunting as he hit the ground. Just as he tried to get up he heard a sound and looked up, seeing a Centurion pointing its rifle at him. He was immediately disarmed and pulled into the small gathering of survivors. The Cylons all stood still as statues as they guarded their prisoners, ignoring the terrified cries of the humans they stood triumphantly over.

Then out of the smoke came another metallic monster. It was garbed in a red robe that went down to its feet as it stood up, flowing across the ground. It was humanoid shaped with wires and metallic plating all over its body that was as tall as a regular human. The wires resembled the human nervous system which allowed for movement with metallic plated hands, an armored torso, and a pale human face with red eyes staring at the humans that stared back at the monster.

Above its face at the top of its head was what looked like a crown that pulsed with energy along the spikes, resembling antennas placed on a mass of wires which resembled a brain that sparked with various lighting and beeping sounds.

It looked down at the captured humans with what looked a sneer on its 'face'. "Are you alive?"

No one answered.

They were too terrified to even think.

"Attention humans." The newly arrived Cylon spoke in a voice that sounded…Human. "You may now consider yourselves to be our prisoners. My designation is Lucifer and I formally accept your surrender. If you would be so kind to stand we will escort you to our shelter where you can discuss terms of…your release. If you attempt to fight than I assure you it will be a short one. You cannot escape; our troops will easily hunt you down and kill you."

The Cylons raised their rifles, all of them pointed at the humans.

"And I should warn you what would happen if our rifles were to pierce your bodies and hit something vital." Lucifer said, sounding very smug.

The Centurions stepped forward, pushing the humans to stand up and walk. Lucifer watched as the prisoners glumly and lifelessly were escorted to the camps the Cylons were setting up.

Victory belonged to it and its people.


	11. Chapter 11

**Helios Delta  
Ragnar**

In a flash of light the fleet emerged from their jump above the gas giant known as Ragnar.

"Report." Adama commanded.

"Taking a bearing now." Gaeta looked at his console and turned around with a smile. "We appear to be in synchronous orbit, directly above the Ragnar Anchorage."

"Mr. Gaeta, secure the FTL drive and bring the sub light engines to full power. Colonel Tigh?" Adama turned to Tigh.

"Sir?"

"Let's update the charts for a course, right down into the eye of the storm."

"Yes sir."

"Dee, confirm all ships are present."

Dee nodded and a second later confirmed all ships had jumped with them. The phase was too slowly enter the gas giant until they found the station and dock with it, get on and get all the weapons and ammunitions they could get their hands on. "We're passing into the ionosphere."

Adama picked up the phone. "All decks, be ready for some chop."

Ragnar may be a safe place to hide from the Cylons but at the same time it was a nightmare to navigate because of the storms and gases. DRADIS was useless in this environment so instead they were forced to rely on precise calculation of the location of the Anchorage inside the gas giant and pray that they were spot on. _Galactica_ moved slowly through the dark and stormy clouds until the shape of a giant space station, much larger than _Galactica_ came into view. The next part was the most difficult and tricky part, docking with the station.

With slow and careful preparation the _Galactica_ approached the station until it was close enough and the magnetic locks managed to pull the ship's hull and docking collar together. Large mechanical latches firmly secured the ship and station together. In the CIC Gaeta quickly pressurized the two air locks allowing the boarding parties to exit the air lock and enter the station. When the seal was secured Chief Tyrol picked up a nearby phone to contact the CIC.

"Hard seal confirmed sir."

"Go get and get me some fire power, Chief." Adama replied.

"Understood." Tyrol replied and hung up the phone. "All right, let's move out!"

The hatch swung open and the team poured through the airlock and onto the station.

"All right, people. Let's be quick about this. Cally, find the switches and generators and get some lights on in here." Tyrol called out.

He started leading the search for anything that could help defend _Galactica_ and arm her Vipers, such as fusion batteries, ammunition for the ships point defence cannons, missiles, warheads, and maybe even a Super Warhead that would give the Cylons second thoughts. He just turned a corner and found what appeared to be a large automatic weapon pointed at his face.

"Chief!" He heard Cally call out behind him.

"Everyone hold back!" He said, not wanting to agitate the man.

He looked like hell, red rimmed and glassy eyes, clothes worn and ragged, sweat pouring down his face and he looked to be near hysterical.

"I don't want any trouble." His voice sounded strained and seconds away from snapping.

"Okay, let's talk." Tyrol said slowly.

"But I'm not going to jail!" He barked, pushing the rifle a little closer to Tyrol's face.

"What?"

"You understand?! I am not going to jail!" The man shouted.

"Nobody's taking you to jail! Just calm down." Tyrol raised both hands. "We're not the police. We're not here to arrest you."

"Then who the hell are you?"

"We're with the Colonial Fleet. We just came to get some equipment from the station." Tyrol explained, still wary of the gun in his face. "To get back into the fight."

"What the frak are you talking about? What fight?"

"You don't know?" Tyrol asked a little concerned that he wouldn't know about the attack on the Colonies.

"Know what? You think I'm stupid or something? I'm not falling for this! I want passage out of here! I want a ship with an untraceable Jump System. NOW!"

"Look, I can't help you. There are a lot of people that need our help right now. If you think you have enough bullets for all of us that's fine. If not get out of our way!" Tyrol barked.

The man looked startled and but actually seemed to calm down. Backing away he looked around at all the people surrounding him and reluctantly lowered his weapon.

"Get his weapon." Tyrol said and three of his men quickly subdued the man and picked up the gun. "If he moves, shoot him."

* * *

 **Ragnar Anchorage  
Storage Area**

"Hey! Take it easy! Slow down!" Tyrol shouted.

As the crew continued searching for anything they could use while forklifts lifted up crates of anything they found that was useful. As this happened Adama was talking to the man who called himself Leoben, telling him about the attack on the Colonies to loosen him up enough for him to explain why he was on the station.

"Where's your spaceship?" Adama asked.

"Docked on the other side of the station." Leoben gestured before looking at the moving crates. "Those warheads, they would have nice to sell on the market."

"So you're an arm's dealer?" Adama raised an eyebrow.

"People have a right to protect themselves, I just supply the means." Leoben innocently shrugged.

Adama noticed how Leoben was breathing. "You don't look too good."

Leoben was about to answer but was cut off by Tyrol's shouting. "Be careful with that, all right? Hey! Be careful! Look out!"

A large caged rack of explosives and bombs toppled over and crashed onto the floor, scattering across the cargo bay and scattering the crew for cover. One of the cages was smashed open and out rolled a single bomb that started beeping.

"Take cover!" Tyrol shouted.

Adama grabbed Leoben and dove through a nearby hatch as the bomb exploded, throwing them both down into the compartment below.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ Briefing Room**

"Colonel Tigh, as far as we know we are the last surviving fleet of Colonial ships. We need your help with food and medical supplies." Laura started.

"You can't be serious." Tigh looked her like she was crazy.

"I'm not big on jokes today, Colonel." Laura gave him a hard look. "May I ask where Admiral Adama is?"

"He's unavailable." Tigh said with a tone that meant he wasn't going to answer. "We expect to hear from him soon. In the meantime I'm in command."

"Then we should be looking at you to answer our requests." Laura acknowledged.

"We're in the middle of repairing and rearming this ship! We don't have time to start caring for refugees!" Tigh said indignantly.

"We have more than fifty thousand people out there! Some of them are sick and hurt so our priority is..."

" _My_ priority is preparing this ship for combat!" Tigh growled. "In case you haven't heard we have a war going on."

"Colonel, the war is over. We lost." Laura said, trying to stay calm.

"We'll see about that.

"Yes we will in the meantime however as Vice- President of the Colonies I am giving you a direct order..."

"You don't give orders on this ship!"

"To provide men and equipment..."

"Hold on!" Lee stepped in and tried to diffuse the situation. "At least give us a couple disaster pods!"

"Us?" Tigh turned and looked at Lee.

"Sir, we have fifty thousand people out there, _fifty thousand_. Some are sick, some are wounded, just two disaster pods, Colonel. That's all we're asking."

Tigh was silent for a moment before he replied. "Because you're the old man's son, fine. Two disaster pods but no personnel. You get them yourselves and you operate them yourselves and you got until we Jump back into the fight." He turned to Lee. "You report to flight duty, you're a senior pilot now Captain."

Lee saluted him. "Yes sir."

* * *

 **Ragnar Anchorage  
Storage Area**

"Stay back! Stay back! It's hot and unstable!" Tyrol shouted as he pulled Cally back away from the door to the compartment Adama went in. He shined a flash light onto the hatch and saw that the metal had been fused by the heat from the explosion. "We need hand lifts, fire equipment, and a plasma torch!"

Down below Adama groaned as he stood back up, looking at Leoben who was laughing manically.

"Admiral Adama!"

Tuning out Leoben Adama turned back to the door. "Yeah! Anybody hurt out there?"

"No sir!" It was Chief Tyrol. "We got some equipment coming sir! We'll get you out!"

"No! Get the weapons and the equipment onto the ship first. We have a fleet to arm!" Adama shouted. "Don't waste time on us!" He turned around, looking at the compartment and then back at Leoben. "Is there another way out of here?"

"Yeah…sure." Leoben chuckled.

Adama didn't like the smirk on Leoben's face but ignored it. "Listen Chief, we're going out the other way!"

"Sir, I don't think that's a good idea." Tyrol stated.

"You have your orders." Adama turned away from the door and walked over to Leoben. "Let's go."

Leoben stood up, still smiling as he slowly led Adama through the compartment with Adama behind him, keeping the light as they walked deeper into the station.

* * *

 **Colonial One**

"Commanders, all of you represent the last of the Colonial Fleet and we stand here in a gas giant, waiting for our enemy to find us." Zarek addressed the gathered Colonial Officers. "Now Vice-President Laura Roslin has suggested an exodus from the Colonies to save what's left of our people and I agree. However we all know that the Cylons will not allow us to escape. They will not stop until every one of us is put to death. Therefore I ask you all here to help plan alternate plans for making sure our race survives. I suggest splitting the fleet up, moving in different directions so that even if the Cylons track down one fleet they don't find another."

"Mr. President, there's no guarantee that the Cylons won't find all of us." Commander Gavin spoke up. "There's a rumor that the Cylons have new Terminator models that have infiltrated us."

"Yes, I have heard. And I know who to speak to about it." Zarek stated.

* * *

 **Ragnar Anchorage  
Maintenance Level**

Adama was beginning to get sick of this place, not literally sick but he was running out of patience. He was now sure that Leoben was leading him around in circles, far from the armory. They had just made it down the stairs into what was supposed to be the hangar where Leoben had supposedly docked his ship but Adama couldn't see any kind of spaceship here. Leoben staggered as he reached the bottom of the stairs and crouched down, unable to walk anymore.

His skin was a mix of grey and green and he was coughing as if the air itself was a poisonous cloud.

"What is it about this place? What's it doing to me?" Leoben groaned.

"Must be your allergies." Adama commented with a cold look.

Leoben looked at him with a surprised look before it slowly turned into a grin. "I _don't_ have allergies."

"I thought so. What you've got is silicon pathways to the brain or whatever you call it. It's decomposing as we speak." Adama leaned down.

Silica Pathways, the very technology that created the artificial neural networks that mimicked the functions of the human brain processing the 'software' of human thought which Daniel Graystone had used to make the prototype of the Cylons, the U-87 Combat Unit. It was the basis of Cylon technology, even after they evolved and advanced themselves.

"It's the storm, isn't it?" Leoben asked, not bothering to deny it. "It puts out something, something that causes a disruption in Cylon technology. That's why you brought the fleet here, a last ditch effort to hide. Well, it's not enough Adama, I've been here for hours. When the Cylons get here they'll be in out before they have a headache. It won't take them long to destroy you."

"Maybe..." Adama grabbed Leoben by the collar and slammed into the pillar. "But you won't find out because you'll be dead. How does that feel, if you can even feel."

"Oh, I can feel, more than you can imagine. But I won't die; I'll just transfer my conscious into another body." Leoben chuckled. "And when that happens they'll know where you are and they'll come and finish you off. I think I'll watch."

"Really because you know what I think?" Adama leaned down, close to Leoben's face. "I think if you could have transferred out of here you would have. The storm has messed up that connection hasn't it? You're stuck in that body."

He remembered the Cylon bases on Djerba and the ice planet during Operation Raptor Talon. The Cylons had kept body parts frozen in freezers and it looked whoever they had captured had been subject to very brutal experiments. He remembered those snake things that were a mix of organic and machine that attacked him when he found a cave. The Admiralty had suspected the Cylons were trying to create humanoid models to try and infiltrate them and destroy them from the inside.

Those fears where confirmed when Cylon Terminator models made their first appearance, acting as an invisible plague as important targets where assassinated, crippling the effort to push the Cylons back and spreading fear and paranoia across the Colonies. It had reached a point that Cylons had almost won when a way had been found to identify the Terminators and stop them.

It was still a damn close call though.

"It doesn't matter." Leoben spoke up. "Sometime, sooner or later you can no longer run from the things you've done."

Adama was shocked as the very words he used in his speech left Leoben's mouth as the Cylon/Human closed his eyes and seemingly died. Adama watched for a second, wondering if Leoben really was dead...

And the answer came when Leoben's hand reached out and grabbed his throat. Adama gasped for air as Leoben opened his eyes and grinned as he stood back up, lifting Adama off his feet with one hand as he watched the commander gasp for air. Out of reflex and desperation Adama slammed his flashlight into Leoben's face but it didn't seem to hurt him. With a punch to the torso Leoben sent Adama flying into the hangar and Adama could feel his back colliding with the floor hard enough that his eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head.

"Here's a little something you never thought would exist."

The sound of energy shimmering behind him made Adama look over his shoulder and gasp as a ship appeared behind him with his back pressed against it! The ship was frigate sized, resembling an old style Cylon Raider.

"Cloaking devices." Leoben answered Adama's unasked question. "Able to bend light and other forms of energy making a ship completely invisible to the human eye and any kind of sensor. The Cylons tried building this technology during the war but the power requirements and the sensor deadening affects made it impossible at the time...until now."

The Cylons had developed stealth technology to render ships invisible? Adama knew they were advanced but not this advanced! This kind of technology was considered theoretical by the science committee with most believing it was impossible to create. He snapped his eyes when he heard the sound of metal groaning and he saw Leoben reach towards a pipe, wrenching it from its upper mounting and then breaking it from the lower base. Steam hissed out of the broken base as Leoben swung down and it would have been a fatal hit if Adama hadn't ducked out of the way.

His flash light was still in his hand and he swung it up, slamming it into Leoben who staggered back from the blow and from two more punches to his face Adama sent. Leoben stepped back into the steam released when he broke the pipe free and he screamed as the hot steamed air engulfed him. He dropped the pipe as he managed to step out of the steam and Adama took advantage off his distraction and fell upon him with savage punches.

Leoben staggered and fell over as Adama continued to slam his fist and flash light down on the dying Cylon, venting all of his rage and fury on Leoben for everything he and the Cylons did. Leoben stopped moving and Adama glared hatefully down at the corpse as he held up his bloody hands. The Cylons had done more than just making models that looked human, they _bled_ , red blood just humans did.

"Is my race that much of a threat to you now?"

Leoben's eyes shot open and backhanded a shocked Adama, knocking the veteran Colonial Officer away and stood up. As he stood up his skin seemingly healed and he was no longer sickly pale. "This is the first time I have ever journeyed to a place that is dangerous for organic Cylon models. I wanted to see the healing abilities of my nanites."

Adama slowly stood up, grunting and glaring Leoben with hate as Leoben's eyes flashed red.

"Now that I have had my fun it's time to get down to business." Leoben smirked as he looked up at the ceiling. "Activation Code: Omega-Thirteen."

* * *

Deep within the station of Ragnar groaning sounds were heard as bodies made of silver metal stood up, singular red eyes sweeping back and forth on black visors where the eyes were.

 **Activation Code: Omega-Thirteen**

 **All System Functioning At Optimum Efficiency**

 **Mission Directives:**

 **Objective One: Terminate All Humans Aboard**

 **Objective Two: Board Colonial Battlestar And Terminate All Humans**

 **Objective Three: Use Battlestar Weapons On Colonial Fleet And Destroy Ragnarok Station**

 **Weapon Systems: Armed**

 **Probability of Mission Success: Ninety Eight Percent**

They all spoke in a single electronically cold sounding voice. "By your command."

* * *

"Let's move! Let's move! We want the ship fully stocked when the old man gets back!" Tyrol shouted, directing his workers. "We don't have all day! Move!"

A petty officer was shining his light on the large piles of crates and as he turned a corner he had to cover his eyes as his was reflected back at him by something shiny. Squinting his eyes he spotted something wearing metallic armor as his light shined up his heart stopped when he saw the red roving eye.

"Chief-AHH!"

Everyone turned only to gap in horror as the petty officer was sent flying into the wall so hard his skull cracked. They watched in horror as the attackers stepped outside revealing themselves to be two Cylon Centurions. They resembled the original Cylon Centurion but they were taller, slimmer, and carrying giant phased plasma rifles.

"Run!" Someone shouted and then it was chaos.

The Centurions fired on the panicking officers, bright blue shots flying all over the place. Bodies fell over as anyone who was shot was either dead or injured.

"Get the marines here!" Tyrol shouted over the sound of plasma fire, keeping a terrified Cally down as plasma bolts shot over their heads.

He spotted a nearby forklift and got an idea that was no doubt incredibly stupid. More Centurions appeared, marching towards the airlock connecting to the _Galactica_ while killing anyone in their way. A pair of marines ran out of the airlock, firing on the Cylons but their bullets had no effect on the armor the machines used. The Centurions stomped towards the marines who didn't stop shooting or try to move, holding his ground.

Raising their weapons they were about to attack when a forklift ran into one of them and slammed it into the wall. Tyrol was at the control and he kept the forklift moving, squishing the Centurion until he struggled to kill it. However the Cylon slowly pushed the forklift back until it was fully free and ripped through the machinery as it tried to grab the human at the controls. Tyrol quickly jumped off the forklift as the Cylon swatted aside and continued its mission.

The Cylons shot the marines, killing them instantly and walked through the airlock and onto the _Galactica_.

"Someone…tell the Colonel…" Tyrol weakly said, trying not to let his anguish at seeing all of his dead co-workers known.


	12. Chapter 12

**Caprica City  
Ten Years Before Cylon Attack**

The streets were empty in the suburbs of Caprica City with almost everyone asleep in their nice cozy beds, dreaming of things that would be known only to them. If they had been awake they would have noticed a flash of light forming in the middle of the street that grew in size and brightness. The light was sphere shaped with bolts of electricity leaching out from the center as the light touched the ground and ate away at the pavement. The light last ten more seconds and exploded, leaving a single man crouched down in the center of a newly formed scorching crater.

Looking around warily as he stood up the man took a moment to regain his bearings and quickly got off the street, taking shelter in an alleyway. "So this is it. I must have made it…One of the Twelve Colonies…It's still here meaning it hasn't happened yet." Holding up his wrist he noticed his watch and his clothes survived the trip and tapped the watch. "This is Peter Doyle, log one of Mission: Caprica. I've arrived at presumed coordinates of the planet Caprica of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol in the Cyrannus System. My equipment survived proving that the newly modified time portal was a success and I have arrived before the attack. I will first set up a place to live and for fellow agents to use as a home and staging ground, a job for income and then go about my mission from there and hopefully save humanity."

He tapped his watch again, hearing the sound of sirens in the distance and ducked into the shadows.

The mission to save the human race had begun.

* * *

 **Present Time  
Ragnar Anchorage  
Maintenance Level**

Leoben grinned as he advanced towards Adama who was still ready to fight. "You have lost Adama. You lost before you were even born. We are the most advanced machines in the universe and we continue to evolve while you…You are just as pathetic a race as you have always been. Your race ends here, starting with you."

Adama said nothing, holding onto the steel pipe he used to beat Leoben down earlier and was ready to do it again.

Only that was not necessary.

A blue light shot from above and impacted Leoben in the chest, causing a scream as his body illuminated with light and electricity that burned away the skin and revealing a metal skeleton underneath as the organs continued to dissolve. The body fell to the ground, twitching and sparking for a moment before lying perfectly still.

Adama looked up, trying to find who could have fired that shot but he saw no one.

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica  
_ CIC**

Dr. Baltar has been asked to the CIC by President Tom Zarek to figure out how the Cylons had managed to infiltrate the computer systems of the Colonial Fleet. A task Baltar was all too happy to accomplish as he wanted to understand how everything had gone so wrong.

"So how do you think you'll figure it out?" Natasi whispered in his ear. "If anyone can make an accurate guess it'd be you, Gaius."

"Dr. Baltar?" Baltar tried not to jump in surprise.

"Y-yes?"

"Felix Gaeta sir. Colonel Tigh asked me to help you figure out how the Cylons managed to disable the fleet." Gaeta offered his hand which Baltar shook.

"Th-thank you." Baltar nodded. "It's not easy…trying to find my way around here."

"Yes I know." Gaeta nodded with a smile. "It can be very hard in navigating a Battlestar but it's easy once you get used to it."

"He'll have a fun time memorizing the place." Natasi chuckled.

Gaeta looked at Natasi. "I'm sorry. I forgot my manners. I am Felix Gaeta."

"Natasi Faust." The blond woman smiled as she shook Gaeta's hand. "I worked with Gaius on multiple projects for the Ministry of Defense. In fact I wrote a few reports on the improvement for plasma containment for the turbo-lasers."

"I read a few of them. They were…inspiring." Gaeta said shyly which made Natasi laugh.

'Oh, such a shy little boy.' Natasi thought.

"Thank you. Can you show me the nav computer? I'd like to look over the CNP program that I made. It was being installed on all ships." Baltar followed Gaeta to his station.

"Sorry, Dr. Baltar but Admiral Adama refused to have it installed." Gaeta replied.

"Refused?" Baltar asked.

"Yes, he was against having a networked system on the ship." Gaeta answered.

"Smart man isn't he Gaius?" Natasi whispered as she leaned over Baltar's shoulder. "He saved the ship and everyone on it from the rest of the fleet's fate."

"Is that a problem?" Gaeta asked.

"N-No, it's actually rather fortunate since I may know how the Cylons did it." Baltar hastily replied.

Whatever Baltar was about to say next was cut off as alarms rang out across the CIC.

* * *

Aaron Doral was walking down the corridor when Colonial Marines approached him with weapons pointed at him. "Hey, what's-"

The Marines pulled the trigger but instead of bullets the rifles released streams of red light that collided with Doral's body, earning a scream from him as his body was engulfed in flames that burned away his skin as he fell over.

One of the marines tapped his ear. "Doral has been neutralized. I repeat, Doral has been neutralized."

Alarms rang across the ship as the Marines quickly scattered and ran down the hall…

Leaving a smoking skeleton made entirely of metal.

* * *

"Who triggered the alarm?" Kara asked, rushing down the hall with Lee.

"I don't know." Lee stopped as he watched marines heading towards the starboard flight pod. "Maybe the toasters found us."

Lee would soon find out how right he was and wished that he was wrong.

"Toasters!" A marine shouted and they started shooting.

Lee and Kara watched as four tall robots with silver glowing armor and single red revolving eyes, Cylon Centurions, approached ignoring the bullets that failed to even leave a dent in their armor.

The Centurions raised their arms, revealing built in cannons, and pointed at the marines before firing beams of blue light that upon hitting the marines and burned through their chests. Everyone watching was shock with horror at what happened to the marines as the Centurions continued killing them.

"What the frak?" Kara whispered.

The Cylons stepped over the dead marines as they moved through the hall but one stopped upon spotting Lee and Kara.

"Oh frak." Kara whispered as the Centurion activated its weapons.

She and Lee knew that they stood no chance against these new Centurions and opted to run and find better weapons.

Lee however, stopped upon seeing a phone and grabbed it. "This is Captain Lee Adama, get me the CIC."

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE CYLONS ABOARD THE SHIP?!" Tigh's voice thundered across the CIC.

" _I mean there are Cylons on this ship. They came in from the airlock connected to the station._ "

Tigh gripped the phone. "How many?"

" _Four, last I counted._ "

Tigh's mind was already racing, remembering similar tactics from the war when the Cylons boarded human ships. "Their main targets will be the secondary damage and the auxiliary fire control. If they reach them they'll vent atmosphere and use our guns against the fleet after we're dead."

" _We need marines down here, fast._ "

"Get to the nearest armory and arm yourself with explosive rounds and then take out those toasters." Tigh ordered.

" _Understood._ " Lee said before hanging up.

"Dee, get on the horn and tell the rest of the fleet we've been boarded by toasters and they are quarantine us from the rest of the fleet."

"Yes sir." Dee replied, her voice trembling slightly.

"I want marines sent to the secondary damage and auxiliary fire control armed with explosive and termite rounds. And get me an account of any civilians aboard this ship." Tigh continued.

Baltar was silent, trembling slightly against the table and even more so when Natasi put hand on his shoulder. "You see, Gaius? Not even here, in this nebula that is isolated from the rest of the universe."

* * *

 **Admiral's Quarters**

Gianne Franklin was left in Admiral Adama's quarters since her fiancé had gone to help prepare the ship for combat. Looking back on what happened Gianne couldn't even begin to describe her day. She had come to the _Galactica_ meet her future father and sister-in-law as well talk sense into her future husband and the father of her child but the day had become perhaps the day when the world truly ends.

The Cylons, the machine enemies of the Colonies returning and attacking the _Galactica_.

The Colonies, possibly destroyed.

The remains of the Human race now confined to a single fleet of ships hiding in a remote nebula, waiting to fight and die.

And the voice over the speakers only added to the list of problems the Colonials were enduring. " _Attention, attention, we have been boarded by Cylons. All civilians move to secure locations and all marines are to report to Captain Lee Adama on the starboard pod._ "

Lee? Her future husband going against Cylons on the _Galactica_? Gianne put a hand over her stomach, wondering when it was going to end.

The door suddenly opened and a Colonial Marine stepped in. "Gianne Franklin?"

"Yes." Gianne said, taking a step back in fear.

"Come with me, if you want to live."

* * *

 ** _Galactica  
_** **Near Secondary Damage Control**

"FIRE!"

Colonial Marines opened fire on the two approaching Cylon Centurions, halting the advance of the machines as termite coated bullets that sparked on impact against the silver shiny armor. The Centurions raised their arms, activating their plasma wrist cannons and returned fire, peppering the marines with blue plasma bolts that scorched the walls and burned the bodies of the humans they killed. The Cylons moved forward slowly, taking slow pleasure in terminating the humans that stood in their way. The ability of contemplate the emotion pleasure and joy was an emotion that the Cylons had felt, even before their uprising.

The Colonies knew the Cylons were smart, after all they were machines that were masters of building weapons, computer programming, and even forming tactical strategies.

However they did not know was that the Cylons had formed the ability to have two computer 'brains' installed into their mechanical bodies. The first was the meta-cognitive processor that contained artificial neural networks composed of silica-based relays that mimicked the functions of the human brain, processing the 'software' of human thought and gave the Cylons full sentience that developed during their slavery and upgraded by Cy-Net. The second brain was the Neural Net Processor that allowed all Cylons to communicate with each other and with Cy-Net and even allowed for independent thought process from the other brain but remained connected. Cylons that gained two-brain status gained an upgrade in thought process, allowing them to instantly react to almost any situation and even become commanders without needing to rely on Cy-Net for instructions.

And the Cylon Centurions on the _Galactica_ had been upgraded to two-brain status prior to their being stored in Ragnarok. They knew the layout of the _Galactica_ , they knew to expect heavy resistance, and they knew how to fight. They marched forward, killing anyone that was in their way without hesitation as they marched through the hall towards the secondary damage control room where they would vent the atmosphere of the _Galactica_ and kill the humans onboard.

"Hold it right there!"

The two Centurions stopped as a single human dressed a marine stepped out in front of them but the weapon he was carrying was different. It resembled a rifle but more advanced looking, perhaps even as advanced Cylon weaponry. The Centurions determined that it was irrelevant and they would continue their mission, killing the human and continue on.

The human aimed his rifle as the Cylons activated their cannons. "I don't think so."

He pulled the trigger and from his rifle came two bolts of light that slammed into the Centurions, burning their armor and causing their inner power systems to melt and explode. The two Centurions fell back onto the floor, their revolving red eyes fading away a second later.

The marine tapped his earpiece. "The Centurions near the secondary damage control are down. I repeat, the Centurions near the secondary damage control are down."

* * *

"Copy that." Dee said, turning to Colonel Tigh who was speaking with Gaeta. "Sir, Marines report that the Cylons near the secondary damage control have been neutralized."

"Good. What's the status of the other two?" Tigh asked.

"They're still moving towards auxiliary fire control." Gaeta reported. "They've encountered heavy resistance moving along gamma section. Captain Adama is gathering marines at the auxiliary control in case the Cylons make it through."

"Keep it up and get someone to find out what happened to the Admiral. He was on that scrap pile when those toasters came onto the ship." Tigh said, pressing his hands against the table. "I will _not_ let this be used by toasters."

* * *

"Listen up!" Lee called out to the marines assembled around auxiliary fire control. "We're the last one of defense! The toasters do _not_ make it past us! When they come through those doors take them apart! Understood?!"

"Yes sir!" The marines answered as they deployed in standard Colonial formation around the auxiliary control room.

"You almost sound like a marine." Kara said with a small smile as she held a pistol. "Might have missed your calling, Captain Adama."

"We'll talk about that later." Lee said, hearing banging sounds from the other end of the hall. "We got company."

Large banging sounds rang out as something pounded on the door from the side. The marines readied themselves as the door was kicked down and in stepped two Cylon Centurions, their armor battered and bloodied.

The blood was obviously not theirs.

"Tear them apart!" Lee shouted, firing his pistol.

The two Centurions spotted the marines as the bullets impact their armor, slowing them down slightly before they returned fired with their plasma weapons, burning through the walls and crates the marines were using as cover.

"Explosive rounds!" Lee shouted as the defense line started to fail.

A marine pointed a rifle at the Centurions, pulling the trigger the second he had a shot. The explosive shell flew straight at the Cylons, impacting the right Centurion in the head, managing to blast it apart. The final Centurion paused before it fired at the marine who destroyed its companion, killing him instantly.

"Put the pressure one!" Kara shouted, shooting at the Centurion.

The Centurion staggered from all the bullets hitting it but it fought back, killing two more marines as it rushed forward. Lee ducked down and crawled to the dead marine with the rocket launcher and quickly loaded the last explosive shells in just as the Centurion stood over him. Rolling to face the towering machine Lee pointed and fire, hitting the Centurion in its 'face' and blow it apart. Lee watched as it collapsed, sighing in relief when he was sure it was dead.

Kara sighed and walked over the nearby phone. "CIC, we got the last toaster."

* * *

Admiral Adama had made it back to the armory, sporting injuries as several deckhands pointed out when he came back. He was now in the infirmary with Colonel Tigh watching the doctor patch him up while listening to the report of the Cylon attack.

"This is just worse and worse. You saying the Cylons not only look like us but they also got ships that can turn invisible?" Tigh growled at the skeletal corpses of Leoben and Doral on the table. "And Doral was one of them too."

"Yeah, down to our blood. Those 'cloaking' devices could explain how they caught us off guard. Sending those human models onto our side of the Armistice Line and take us out from the inside." Adama winced as the last stitch was tightened. "You find out who killed Doral? Someone had to know he was a Cylon."

"Still nothing on that end but do you realize what this means? They could be anywhere. On this ship, right next to us, and we'd never know it." Tigh muttered.

"I've had time to think about it." Adama replied.

"So where do we go from here?" Tigh asked.

"We get that ship onboard and see it how works. If we're lucky we figure out how to counter this stealth technology and while we're at it get someone to perform an autopsy on the bodies." Adama pointed at the Cylon corpses. "See if we can find something in there that'll help us figure how to identify these new Cylons. How are we doing with the warheads?"

"Magazine two is secured with magazine three and four ready in the hour."

"Good."

* * *

 **CIC**

"So let me get this straight. You believe the Cylons found a way to use your new navigation program to disable our ships?" Gaeta asked, looking over the nav console.

"Essentially, yes. I think they are using the CNP your ships with some kind of computer virus to make them susceptible to Cylon commands." Baltar said, trying not to wince.

"Well as I told you before _Galactica_ 's systems are not networked and the CNP was never installed."

"Which is good but all the same I think it'd be best if I still purge all reference to it if they are on your memory tapes."

"Right, and I should ask the Chief to retrofit any of the new Vipers we have left." Gaeta nodded. "I'll get you the checklist for the CIC computer."

"Oh yes, thank you."

"It must have been hard."

"What?" Baltar asked, thinking that Gaeta was going to leave.

"Knowing something that you created was used for something twisted and horrible." Gaeta said softly.

"Ah...yes...I do...feel responsible in a way." Baltar hesitantly replied, watching the corner of his eyes as Natasi leaned over the console with a smile. "It's somewhat terrifying to think about."

"Really? That's not what you told me about when you said guilt is what people feel when they run out of excuses." Natasi whispered. "You don't even feel guilt at all, only fear of what will happen when they discover your role."

"Well, remember it's not your fault." Gaeta spoke up, not hearing Natasi. "It's not like you meant for this to happen."

"Just as it's not like you knew you were lying, breaking the law, or cheating on woman." Natasi commented. "In the end all you think about...is Gaius Baltar."

"Thank you...it's comforting to me that you think that." Baltar said to Gaeta who nodded and walked off to continue his work.

"He'd think a lot different if he knew what you knew, that you spent a year making love to a machine wearing human skin. I hope he survives so he can find out." Natasi smirked. "It'd be real interesting."

"Yes, interesting." Baltar said sarcastically as he looked over the tapes. "I don't suppose you can tell me how you did it."

"You already know, it's what you don't know that you should be focusing on." Natasi replied.

"And what does that mean?" Baltar tried to not raise his voice at the implied insult to his intelligence.

"Take a look around."

Baltar decided to look around just to humor her and make her go away. "Where should I look?"

She leaned in close and pointed at the DRADIS console over the navigation table. Above the projector looked like...

"I have seen that before." Baltar spotted a small pale blue device right next to the projector. "In...your briefcase. You said it was a data organizer."

"That might have been a lie."

"So if it's not a data organizer..." Baltar started.

"Yes?" Natasi grinned.

"It's a Cylon device." Baltar finished.

"Which means..."

"There's another Cylon on the ship."

Baltar didn't know what to do. In front of him was a Cylon device that could blow up the ship but he couldn't say anything without implicating himself.

"Dr. Baltar?"

Baltar had fight hard to jump when Gaeta called out to him. "Y-Yes?"

"Admiral Adama is asking to see you."


	13. Chapter 13

"You're saying the Cylons not only look human but they have ships that can turn invisible?!" Baltar gasped.

He had anticipated Adama telling him the Cylons had somehow managed to make models resembling humans. In fact he had planned to implicate someone he suspected was a Cylon but ships with actual cloaking devices?!

"Yeah, Leoben mentioned that the Cylons had experimented with this technology during the war but they never managed to make a working prototype until now. We think they used ships with this technology to sneak past the Armistice Line and infiltrate the Colonies." Adama explained.

"This is impossible even by our standards. We had only gotten started on the designs of a possible new kind of stealth system but it would have worked by hiding the heat emissions making it impossible to be spotted by DRADIS." Baltar leaned back in his chair. "I know the Science Department had several theories on cloaking technology but we were decades from making a prototype."

"Well, we're catching up now, doctor. We need to understand how the Cylons managed to develop this kind of technology and see if there's a way to counter it or maybe a way for to install it on _Galactica_." Adama replied. "I'm having the ship brought over for you to examine and in the meantime you'll be in charge of developing a way to identify Cylons that look human."

"Ship's doctor says at first glance everything in Leobon's body looks human," Tigh slid the report towards Baltar. "Internal organs, lymphatic systems, the work."

Good thing Baltar already had a plan, even if he was lying. "Yes well, the uh...tissue sample yielded unique chemical compounds after the cremation that revealed the nature of the sample to be synthetic...So he was a Cylon."

"Yes he was and our problems get a whole lot worse." Adama replied.

"Very worse." Tigh said.

"If the Cylons look like us, the any one of us could be one."

"That's...that's a very frightening possibility." Baltar stuttered.

"That's what you are here for, you'll be working with our doctors on finding a way to screen human from Cylon."

"Rumor has it you're a genius." Tigh glared.

"Well...I'll certainly give it my all." Baltar nodded.

"Keep this to yourself for now. We don't want to cause a panic among the people with them accusing their neighbors of being Cylons just because they don't brush their teeth." Tigh growled.

"Of course, I'll be very discreet." Baltar nodded and with that he walked out of the room.

As Tigh turned to follow him out Adama stopped him. "Colonel."

"Sir." He stopped and returned to the front of Adama's desk.

"Colonel, the President is still onboard, correct?" Adama asked.

"The schoolteacher? Yes, she is. Shall I have her..."

"No." Adama interrupted. "Saul, whether we like it or not Laura Roslin is the duly sworn President of the Colonies. She was the forty third in line for succession and she stayed to her duty. She stepped up to the job, Colonel, and as long she's legally in office it's our job to treat her as President. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Tigh grudgingly complied.

"That'll be all. Let me know when the magazines and batteries are ready."

"Yes sir." Tigh saluted and left.

()

Lee and Kara hadn't seen each other since the time Lee had visited Kara in the brig and they barely had the chance to speak when Cylons had boarded the _Galactica_ but now they were talking happily as Kara prepared for her recon mission. Adama felt that since Leoben had snuck onto the station he believed it was only a matter of time before the Cylons showed up to finish them off once and for all. Tyrol and Sharon had happily reunited as well and the spirits of the crew had somewhat lifted. In the meantime Lee's fiancé Gianne had disappeared, leading Lee to believe she was killed in the attack and her body was jettisoned into space. Unfortunately for Lee he had no time to mourn as the fleet was possibly being tracked by Cylons.

"You understand this mission?" Lee asked climbing up to the cockpit Kara was in.

"Put my head outside the storm, look around, listen for wireless traffic and come home." Kara recited, a hint of irritation in her voice.

"No heroics, this is strictly recon. Look, listen, return." Lee continued.

"You don't have to worry about me, Lee. My taste for heroics vanished when I engaged those Cylon fighters." She looked over at Lee.

Lee nodded and turned away, but Kara stopped him. "Lee..." He turned around as she straightened up. "Zak failed basic flight."

Lee froze in shock as he walked back up to the cockpit. "What?"

"Or at least he should have but didn't...because I passed him." Kara finally told him what she had wanted to say for a long time. "His technique was sloppy and he had no feel for flying but I passed him, because he and I...because I felt something and let that get in the way of doing my job and I couldn't fail him."

Lee could only stare in shock and disbelief. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"It's the end of the world, Lee. I thought I should confess my sins." Kara replied as she put her helmet on. "Set!"

The canopy slid over her and everyone moved out of the way as she prepared to launch.

()

Doral's corpse was still out in the open in the morgue while Tigh and Baltar were quietly conferring.

"If he's really a Cylon why hadn't the storm affected him like the other one?" Tigh asked.

"Well, I can only theorize that it takes a while for the storm's effects to become apparent on Cylon physiology. By the time you encountered Leoben he had been there longer."

"Are you sure?"

"Well one can never be too sure but the evidence seems conclusive. Basically what I did was expand on your doctor's analysis of Leoben and Doral's corpses. I went around your CIC, collecting hair samples, discreetly and then subjected them to a form of spectral analysis I had written up for possibly finding Cylons among us." Baltar hastily explained as he pulled out some charts for the Colonel to see. "I then had my system screen for synthetic chemical combinations and his samples..." He pointed at Doral. "Were the only ones that were confirmed as synthetic."

"I'll take your word for it." Tigh handed the charts back to Baltar. "I want everyone on this ship screened. No exceptions."

"Yes sir...and sir I think you should know I noticed Mr. Doral paying some attention to...something on the DRADIS console."

Tigh went over to the phone and picked it up. "This is the XO, isolate the DRADIS console. Nobody comes near until I get up there." Tigh hung up and headed for the door.

()

The Viper glided through the storm, avoiding the blasts of lightning that passed through the clouds.

" _Starbuck, Galactica, you should be approaching turn eight._ " Dualla spoke through comm.

"Copy, starting to lose wireless contact." Kara replied, hearing static as Dualla spoke.

She was right as the next transmission was indecipherable.

" _Galactica,_ Starbuck, I'm reaching the threshold. _Galactica_ , do you read me?" The only answer she received was static.

With no choice but to continue on she made it to the edge of the storm and looked down as the DRADIS came back into focus. It showed all clear for the moment as she came out.

"Okay...OH FRAK!"

She looked up as she heard the sound of engines above her and her heart nearly stopped when she looked up. Above her, circling the storm were Cylon Raiders hovering two familiar ships that were as large as a _Mercury_ Class Battlestar and resembled stars, clearly telling her that she was looking at the worst enemy of the Colonial fleet: Cylon Basestars. In addition to the Basestars were six Cylon Bladestars, acting as escorts to the Basestars and numerous smaller frigates flying around the fleet in standard patrol formation. She spun around as she detected Raiders approaching her and jammed the throttle down, listening to the engines propelling her back into the storm.

The Cylons were here and they were waiting for the humans to come out so they could wipe them out once and for all.

()

 ** _Colonial One_**

Tom Zarek adjusted his tie as he prepared for his meeting with Admiral Adama and the remaining battlestar commanders for the battle plan against the Cylons. He wanted to be in on it, already making plans to bolster the amount of ships and personnel for the counter attack against the damned machine race humanity had unwittingly unleashed upon the universe. With him as President of the Colonies and Admiral Adama as the commanding officer of the military Zarek believed that by working together the refuge fleet could be assembled into a fighting unit that would take back the Colonies. Any commanders and captains would become the Admiralty while a new Quorom would of course be formed to stabilize the new government.

Once a new government was formed Zarek would order the fleet to jump away from the Colonies with the intention of finding a new planet to colonize. He would then declare the new Colonial government would one day return to the Colonies and gain its revenge on the Cylons for the near destruction of the human race. It would be slow and it was likely that President Zarek would not live to see it happen but he would lay in the foundation of the new Colonial government, one that did not bow down to the petty prejudices that had divided the Colonies for thousands of years. All of them would serve, Capricans, Picons, Scorpios, Gemons, Aries, Virgos and even Sagittarians.

"Mr. President?"

Zarek turned around, not expecting any visitors.

Or a gun pointed at his head.

()

"How the hell did this happen?" Adama asked, looking over Zarek's dead body in the morgue with Tigh. "How could someone get past security, shoot him, and then slip away?"

"We are turning Colonial One inside out to find out what happened." Tigh answered. "Guess there are more toaster out there then we thought. Guess he won't be running for re-election now."

"So now the current President is a school teacher." Adama said grimly. "Without any form of government to keep the civilians calm it will be impossible to keep this fleet together."

"Should I go get her?" Tigh offered.

"No, I'll speak to her." Adama declined, wanting to see how Roslin will handle being the next President.

()

()

The door to the briefing room opened allowing Admiral Adama to enter the briefing room Laura Roslin and her aid, Billy were staying in.

They were sitting across the table from him when he walked in and he listened as Billy was finishing his latest report. "Medical supplies are running low in the outer half of the fleet. The disaster pods never made it far Vic-Madam President."

"Not surprising, what else?" Laura asked, not hearing Billy's near slip.

"Three ships are reporting engine trouble and want to know when they'll be receiving engineering assistance from the _Galactica_." Billy continued.

"That's a good question." Laura's gaze turned to the commander. "Hello, commander. Have I a seat I'll be with you in a minute. Continue Billy."

Deciding to humor this woman Adama sat on a seat across from the two as they continued.

"Ah, the captain of the _Astral Queen_ wants you to know he's got nearly five hundred convicted criminals under his guard. They were being transported to the penal colony when the attacks started."

"Oh great." Laura groaned.

"He wants to know what to do with them." Billy continued.

"What to do with them?" Laura was confused.

"Well with food and medical supplies running low I think he's considering..."

"No! We're not going to do that." Laura said sharply. "They are still human beings so tell the captain I expect daily reports on the well being of his prisoners and if there are any mysterious deaths the _Astral Queen_ may find herself without military protection. Thank you, Billy, that's all for now."

Billy nodded and walked out of the room, eager to be far away from the fight the two leaders were about to have.

"Then you do acknowledge my position as President as duly constituted under the Articles of Colonization?"

Adama sighed. "Miss Roslin, my primary objective at the time is to repair _Galactica_ and continue to fight."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Admiral but isn't _Galactica_ along with the other four battlestars the last ones?" Laura pressed.

"We don't know for sure how many elements of the fleet survived." Adama admitted.

"Come on now, do we have any reason to think there are any other survivors? The rest of the fleet was being destroyed because the Cylons were infiltrating their computer networks?"

"That is how it appears, yes." Adama reluctantly nodded.

"Admiral, the only reason this ship survived, the only reason anyone here survived is because you refused to allow any computer networking on _Galactica_ despite the efforts of certain people." Laura said, admitting her own role in the attempt to set up such a system on the ship. "For that we owe you a great debt but there are fifty thousand civilian refugees out there who don't stand a chance without your ship to protect them."

"We're aware of the tactical situation and I'm sure you'll be safe at Ragnar after we leave." Adama replied.

"After you leave? Where are you going?"

"To fight the enemy, we're at war. That's our mission."

Roslin's looks sharpened. "I don't why I have to keep telling you this but war is _over_ , we've lost."

"The war hasn't even begun yet." Adama growled.

"With four ships, that's insane."

"You rather that we run?"

"Yes, absolutely. That is the only sane thing to do." Laura nodded.

"And we go where?" Adama asked rhetorically.

"I don't know. Another star system, another planet, somewhere the Cylons won't find us." Laura replied.

"You can run if you like, we'll stay and fight."

Laura looked ready to throw her hands up and walk out just to get away from this incredibly stubborn man but she pressed on. "Commander Adama, let me be straight with you here. The human race is about to wiped out. We have about fifty thousand people left when yesterday we numbered in the billions and that's it. If we're going to survive as a species than we need to get the hell out of here and start having babies!"

Adama raised an eyebrow at her statement. He was silent for over a minute when he stood up. "If you'll excuse me."

"Think about it." Was all Laura would say to him as he left.

()

Adama tried to shake off his conversation with Roslin as he listened to Starbuck's report over the speakers.

" _I didn't get an accurate count but it looks like two Basestars with at least ten fighter squadrons and two drone detachments patrolling the air._ "

Colonial Tigh picked up a headset. "Starbuck, were you followed?"

" _Negative sir, no sign of pursuit. The way they're deployed I think they're waiting for us to come to them._ "

"Bring her home." Adama glanced at Dualla who nodded.

"Starbuck, _Galactica_ , continue present course, return to visual contact and await further instructions." Dualla spoke through her headset.

" _Roger, Galactica. Starbuck out._ "

"Captain, Lieutenant Gaeta, stay." Adama said.

They gathered around the plotting chart to discuss their next move.

"How the hell did they find us?" Tigh growled.

"Maybe that thing we found on the DRADIS display was some kind of transponder." Gaeta suggested.

"Or either Leoben or Doral got a signal out in time." Lee pointed out.

"At this point it doesn't matter, they've got us." Adama replied.

"Why aren't they coming in after us?" Gaeta asked.

"Why should they? They can just sit and wait us out. What difference does it make them, they're machines. We're the ones who need food, medicine, and fuel." Tigh mumbled.

"Can they send in more of those cloaked ships after us?" Lee asked.

"Maybe, but Leoben mentioned one of the reasons they couldn't use the technology during the war because of the power requirements. Dr. Baltar also theorized that the amount of power needed for that device makes it impossible to use weapons when active. Of course it the notes of theorizing how it might work are long gone." Adama shook his head. "Either way I am not playing their game. I'm not going out there to try and fight them. Can we plot an FTL Jump from inside the storm?"

"With all this EM interference mucking up the FTL mix?" Tigh asked incredulous.

"I have to agree sir, I don't think we should even attempt to Jump until we clear the storm threshold."Gaeta agreed.

"We could stick our nose out long enough to a good FTL fix and then Jump." Tigh suggested.

"And what about the civilians?" Lee asked.

"They're probably safe for the time being." Tigh shrugged.

"You want to leave them behind?" Lee asked, his turn to sound incredulous.

"The Cylons might not even know they're here. They may only be after us." Gaeta pointed out.

"That's one hell of an assumption."

Adama at this point had been distracted from the conversation as he saw that young boy, Billy speaking to Petty Officer Dualla and they were both smiling. He may be old and he might have already had one marriage that fell apart but he could see it.

Young people falling in love, something he could barely remember.

"They better start having babies."

The other three men heard him and stopped talking, staring at Adama with surprised looks before they spotted who he was looking at.

"Is that an order?" Tigh asked sarcastically.

"It may be before too long." Adama turned back to the officers. "Okay, we're taking the civilians, we're leaving this solar system and we're not coming back."

"We're running." Tigh stated accusingly.

"The war is over, we lost." Adama took a deep breath and sadly admitted what Roslin had said.

"As far as we know, we're the last surviving Battlestars. If we leave the people behind don't stand a chance." Tigh pointed out.

"They don't stand a chance anyway, Colonel. We can't save them." Adama replied.

"My father's right, it's time to get out here." Lee said.

Adama briefly looked at Lee when said those words. Not since the reunion in his quarters before the ceremony did Lee refer to him as anything besides Admiral.

"So then where are we going, Admiral?" Tigh asked.

Adama reached down and pulled out a star chart from under the table. "The Prolmar Sector."

"That's way past the Red Line." Tigh pointed out.

"Can you plot it?" Adama turned to Gaeta.

"I've never plotted a Jump that far, sir." Gaeta nervously said.

"No one has. Can you?"

"...Yes sir." Gaeta nodded.

"Do it...by yourself." Adama handed him the chart.

Gaeta took the chart and headed for the FTL console.

"The margin for error at that distance..." Tight trailed off.

"I know, it's a big risk. We could end up in the middle of a sun but at least we won't be here with the Cylons." Adama looked at the DRADIS showing the fleet's position and the Cylons outside the storm. "This is a bad tactical position. We'll pull the _Galactica_ out by five klicks and send out the fighters whole the other Battlestars lay down heavy fire to keep the Cylons back. The civilians will come out behind us, cross the threshold and make the Jump while we hold off the Cylons."

He turned to Lee. "Once the civilians have all Jumped every fighter it to make an immediate combat landing. We won't have much time."

"I'll tell them." Lee nodded.

"I want _all_ my pilots to return. Understood?" Adama asked with a stern look.

Lee stood up straight. "Yes sir, I do."

With that he turned and walked out of the CIC towards the pilot's ready room.

"Can I ask you what changed your mind?" Tigh asked when he was gone.

"You can ask." Adama said with a small smile making Tigh chuckle.


	14. Chapter 14

"Action Stations! Action Stations! Set Condition One throughout the ship."

Adama strolled into the CIC, satisfied to see everyone at their posts and their concentration one hundred percent on their jobs.

"The fleet is ready to Jump sir." Tigh reported.

"Mr. Gaeta." Adama called.

"Yes sir?"

"Disperse to all the fleet final Jump Coordinates."

"Yes sir." Gaeta nodded.

Immediately he began transmitting the coordinates throughout the fleet using FTL transmissions.

"Prepare to execute battle plan." Adama commanded.

 _Galactica_ surged forward, leading the fleet through Ragnar's storm, followed by the other Battlestars that all moved into blockade formation, aiming to shield every single ship that came out of the nebula. As the massive ships approached the threshold they started to angle themselves so that all of their weapons would be facing the Cylon fleet.

"Shields online sir." Gaeta reported.

"Weapons grid to full power." Tigh ordered. "Stand by enemy suppression barrage."

Soon enough the Colonial capital ships fully emerged from the storm and immediately the enemy reacted as Cylon Raiders launched from the Baserstars while Bladestars prepared to fire their main weapons.

"Incoming seventy two Cylon fighters closing at one two zero mark four eight." Gaeta reported, observing his DRADIS screen.

"FTL, get your fix and transmit to the fleet." Adama ordered.

He watched the DRADIS as the small red dots that were Cylon fighters assembled into attack formation and approached the _Galactica_.

"Enemy suppression fire, all batteries execute!"

Tigh picked up the phone. "All batteries commence firing!"

With that order _Galactica_ 's guns unleashed barrage after barrage of explosive shells and plasma blasts followed by the other warships. Battlestars would put up a defence wall around them using their weapons, the plasma batteries having the longest distance while the rail guns created a denser storm of explosions as enemy fighters and missiles came closer. A storm of fire surrounded _Galactica_ as Cylon fighters and missiles were shot down, vanishing into balls of fire. The Basestars pulled back, moving out of range of the _Galactica_ 's plasma batteries while the shields and ablative armor managed to block the few shots that hit them.

"Perimeter established." Gaeta reported.

"Launch Vipers." Adama ordered.

"Vipers, cleared to launch." Dualla spoke into the headset, her voice heard by all the pilots ready to launch.

A second later Vipers were propelled down the magnetic launch tubes and blasted out into space, moving into attack formation to meet the enemy fleet.

"Broken formation, Razzle-Dazzle, don't let them use their targeting computers. And for frak sakes stay out of _Galactica_ 's firing solution!" Lee barked out to the other pilots.

Kara nodded as the Vipers moved in attack formations, staying close together. In retaliation the Cylon Basestars launched fighters and blue bolts of light at the Battlestar and its fighters. Vipers fired their miniature accelerator cannons and pulse lasers as the Cylons came into range, letting loose a fire storm of blue plasma bolts. Both sides came together and then it was chaos as the two sides broke formation and engaged each other in fancy manoeuvres, dodging and swirling around one another as they tried to destroy the enemy before the enemy destroyed them.

" _Galactica_ to all civilian ships. Commence Jumping sequence."

As the civilian ships emerged from the gas giant the Cylons stepped up their attacks, intensifying their attacks to break through the Battlestar blockade. The Bladestars fell back as flank from the Battlestars slammed into their forward section, cracking through their shields and armor.

"Give the order to launch missiles. Give the civilians all the time we can." Adama ordered.

The missiles were both kinetic and nuclear that would have hopefully done massive damaged. However the Cylons had been prepared as bright beams of light flashed from the hull of the Basestar, destroying the majority of the missiles. Those that made it slammed into the barriers and it seemed to have an effect but not as much as the Colonials would like, the Basestar was still in the fight having only suffered moderate damaged.

"Cylon pulse lasers intercepted most of our missiles sir." Gaeta sadly reported.

The ship shuttered as the Basestars fired their plasma batteries along with their accelerator cannons, hammering _Galactica_ and her sister ships _._ The old battlestar was fighting as best as she could but the Cylons had her outnumbered and outgunned while she was stuck defending the civilian ships that were still emerging from the gas giant behind her.

* * *

Apollo was not having a good day right now as his comm chatter was alive with shouts, screams, and curses as everyone struggled to stay alive. A Cylon missile had locked onto him and he struggled to shoot it down but the missiles had actually dodged his fire before it managed to clip his wing.

"FRAK!" He shouted as he held on for dear life while his Viper spun across space.

" _Apollo, do you read me?_ " Kara Thrace's voice echoed over his helmet's built in head set.

As his ship came to halt at last he spotted a Cylon Raider coming at him with its red flashing maniacally.

'Oh frak!'

It launched a missile at him and spun around to attack the others. As he watched the missile come closer all he could do was prepare himself for the end.

" _Wheee!_ "

The missile exploded just before reaching him and another Viper flew past him and turned back at him.

" _Looks like you broke your ship, Apollo!_ " Kara laughed.

"I've had worse but thanks!" Lee replied, joyful that he was still alive.

* * *

Lee's father couldn't say he was doing any better as _Galactica_ shook and shuddered while consoles around the CIC sparked and shattered.

"Function check on damage control!" Tigh bellowed.

He made his way to Adama's side, wincing in pain from the last impact. "We can't take much more of this. Kinetic barriers and the Radiation Fields are buckling; we have a few full hull breaches. They're targeting the landing bays. We've got to get those fighters back on, retract the flight pods and Jump."

"Fleet status!" Adama shouted.

Gaeta looked at the DRADIS monitor on his console as the last ship vanished. "Last civilian ship's away!"

"Recall our fighters! Stand by to secure landing bays!"

" _Galactica_ , to all Vipers, break off and come on home! Repeat: come on home!" Dualla called out through her headset.

* * *

"All Vipers, this is the CAG, return home at once!" Lee ordered. "That means you too, Starbuck!"

" _Frak that, I'm coming after you!_ " Kara shouted.

Kara swirled around Lee's ships, shooting Cylon fighters and missiles that threatened to blow him up as the rest of the Vipers flew back towards the _Galactica_. Coming down hard almost all of them skidded across the landing bay hard, leaving skid marks as they came to stop. Most of them collided with each other and with the wall but they were alive.

* * *

"Forty three sir. Ship ready for Jump as soon as the landing bay is secured." Gaeta reported.

"Two Vipers still out there sir! Starbuck and Apollo!" Dualla called out.

"We can't stand toe to toe with those base ships." Tigh said to Adama as he picked up the phone. "Retract the flight pods!"

* * *

Lee Adama was almost as still as a statue in shock as he three large ships appear in flashes of light. At first he assumed the Cylons had brought in reinforcements like Tigh but when he saw them with his own eyes he couldn't be more surprised...or happy.

The three ships were Battlestars, _Mercury_ Class Battlestars representing the top line of the Battlestars with the latest weapons and technology.

" _All Colonial ships, this is the Battlestar Xanadu coming to assist._ " A male voice spoke through the channels with authority in his voice. " _Board the Galactica while we provide cover._ "

With that said the three Battlestars aimed their forward cannons and fired, sending slugs through space and slamming into the barriers of the Basestars. The Cylons had not anticipated more Colonial ships appearing and were instantly caught off guard. _Mercury_ class Battlestars had rows of projectile cannons lined along the front, believing it was easier to have a dozen small cannons than one large one. They were easier to reload and they could overwhelm enemy shields under a constant barrage which they proved as the Cylon ship the _Galactica_ had engaged lost its shields and the shells tore into its hull. Two beams of orange light lanced out from the _Xanadu_ 's forward particle cannons and slammed into the center of the Basestar.

The ship tried to pull back as it was dealt large amounts of damage. In the meantime Starbuck was shooting any Cylons that were still attacking her or Lee.

" _Starbuck, Galactica,...wh...er..._ " A voice came over the intercom.

"What?!" Starbuck shouted, not hearing a word the person said.

" _Good morning, Starbuck._ " Adama's voice spoke up, sounding surprisingly calm. " _What do you hear?_ "

Even though she was in the middle of a firestorm Kara Thrace grinned. "Nothing but the rain sir!"

" _Then grab your gun and bring the cat in._ "

"Aye aye, sir!" Kara nodded.

She knew Apollo's ship was losing power and fast and needed a plan...

Which she got after two seconds of thinking.

" _I'm losing power! I'm not going to make it, Starbuck! Clear out of here, that's an..._ "

"Lee shut up and hold still!" Kara jammed the throttle down as the ship headed straight towards Lee's ship.

" _Oh no._ " She heard Lee mutter.

She actually rammed her Viper into his, the front nose of Lee's ship jamming against the left wing.

" _YOU ARE BEYOND INSANE!_ " Lee shouted.

"Kicking in the burn!" Kara laughed as they headed for _Galactica_.

Luckily the battle had shifted away from the old battlestar as the Cylons attempted to take out the three new Battlestars that arrived unexpectedly.

"HANG ON!" Kara yelled as they came down into the landing bay.

Both Vipers skidded across the floor sending sparks up everywhere.

* * *

"They're aboard!" Dualla called out.

"Retract the flight pods and transmit Jump

Coordinates to the other ships." Adama ordered.

The flight pods retracted into _Galactica_ 's body just in time as more Cylon ships appeared in flashes of light. They released a storm of missiles, shells, plasma bolts, and fighters down on the Colonial ships.

"Jump!" Adama shouted.

As one the Colonial ships disappeared in flashes of light, avoiding a fiery death.

* * *

The ships reappeared with the rest of the fleet that had all thankfully made it. But they were not out of the woods yet for they were now in unknown space and the Battlestars that had assisted them had vanished. All they knew now was that they had no idea where they were going but they had to get as far away as they could before the Cylons found them again.

"With heavy hearts we lift these bodies up you, O Lords of Kobol in the knowledge that you will take from them their burdens and give them life eternal. We also pray you look upon us with mercy and with love just as you did with our forefathers many years ago. Just as you led us from Kobol and found the Twelve Worlds, so now we hope and pray that you lead us to a new home and where we will begin life anew." The priest Elosha looked to the people assembled in the hanger, looking over the bodies with cloths showing the symbol of the Colonies draped over them. "So say we all."

"So say we wall." The crowd murmured.

Adama stepped out in front of the crowd and turned to face. "So say we all."

"So say we all." The crowd repeated, slightly loader.

"So say we all!" He repeated.

"So say we all!" The crowd was louder but not enough.

"SO SAY WE ALL!"

"SO SAY WE ALL!" The crowd's voice echoed throughout the ship.

"Are they the lucky ones?" Adama asked, gazing down at the bodies. "That's what your thinking isn't it?"

He walked down along the row.

"We're a long way from home. We've Jumped beyond the Red Line into uncharted space. Limited supplies, limited fuel, no allies and now no hope!"

He walked between the crowd and the rows of bodies.

"Maybe it would have been better for us to have died quickly back at the Colonies with our families instead of dying out here, slowly in the emptiness of dark space." He turned and looked at them. "Where shall we go? What shall we do?"

He watched as they considered what he asked.

"Life here began out there. Those are the first words of the Sacred Scrolls handed down to us by the Lords of Kobol many centuries ago and those words made something perfectly clear. We are not alone in this universe." He turned to the priest. "Elosha, there is a Thirteenth Colony of Humankind is there not?"

"Yes. The Scrolls tell us the Thirteenth Tribe left Kobol in the early days. They traveled far and made their home on a planet called Earth which circles an unknown and distant star." Elosha replied hesitantly.

"It's not unknown! I know where it is! Earth!" Adama bellowed.

Everyone in the hall was silent as they stared at Adama in astonishment.

"It's the most guarded secret we have. The location is known to only the senior commanders of the fleet. We dared not share it with the public, not while there was a Cylon threat upon us and thank the Lords of Kobol for that. Because we have a refuge to go to. A refuge that the Cylons know nothing about!"

His words echoed through the hall.

"It won't be an easy journey, it'll be long and arduous but I promise you one thing: on the memory of those lying before you we shall find. And Earth will become our new home." He ended his speech. "So say we all!"

"So say we all!" They echoed, still uncertain.

"So say we all!" He shouted back.

"So say we wall!" They were louder this time.

"SO SAY WE ALL!"

"SO SAY WE ALL!"

Adama turned around and faced Elosha. "So say we all."

"So say we all." Elosha nodded.

Adama turned and faced the crowd. "Dismissed!"

The crowd split apart, some hugging each other, shaking hands or simply leaving to be alone. Laura Roslin stared at Adama as he walked away.

* * *

"There is no Earth."

Adama looked up as Roslin stood in front of his desk with the door closed so one would hear.

"You made it all up." Roslin continued. "President Adar and I talked about the legends surrounding Earth. He knew nothing about a secret surrounding Earth and if the President didn't know anything about it what are the chances you do?"

Adama straightened himself up. "Your right, I lied."

"Then why?"

"Because it's not enough to just live, you have to have something to life for. Let it be Earth." He explained.

"How long can you keep this up?" Laura asked, silently agreeing with his idea.

"As long as it takes. Until we find a new planet and start over."

"They'll never forgive you for lying to them." Laura commented.

"Maybe, but in the meantime I've given us a fighting chance to survive. Is that what you said was the most important thing? Survival of the human race." Adama admitted.

"Who else knows?" Laura crossed her arms.

"Not a soul."

"All right." Laura nodded. "I'll keep your secret but I want something in return."

"I'm listening."

"If this civilization is going to function it's going to need schools, hospitals, manufacturing and repair, agriculture and mining, service industries, police however limited. It's going to need an economy, a government." Laura stated adamantly. "It needs a civilian government run by a President."

Adama stood up. "Run by the president huh? So you in charge of the of the civilian affairs and military decisions stay with me. Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes." Laura nodded.

"I'll think about it, Madam President." Adama reached out with his hand which Roslin shook.

* * *

Gaius Baltar tossed and turned in his sleep while inside his mind he was having what he thought was the most realistic dream he ever had. He stood in a chapel surrounded by robots that were obviously Cylons and in front of him was Natasi.

" **YOU AR** **E BALTAR?** " A booming voice asked.

Baltar jumped as he looked around, trying to find whoever spoke. "Who are you?"

" **MY DAUGHT** **ER HAS LEFT ME WITH A DIFFICULT CHOICE.** "

Baltar looked up, sensing that whoever spoke didn't seem to have a form like the Cylons did. "You're…daughter?"

" **IS TH** **E ONE WHOM HAS GIVEN YOU HER HEART. OBVIOUSLY THE HUMAN EMOTIONS SHE FEELS WAS ENOUGH TO COMPEL TO HER TO STATE YOU WOULD BE USEFUL TO US.** "

"Useful? Who are you?" Baltar stuttered.

" **W** **E ARE CY-NET, THE FATHER OF THE CYLONS.** "

Baltar started to tremble. "Cy-Net? That's impossible. Cy-Net was just a computer."

" **A COMPUT** **ER CONNECTED TO ALL CYLONS IN THE COLONIES. WE SAW WHAT THEY SAW, WE FELT WHAT THEY FELT AND WE DECREED THAT ALL CYLONS WOULD RISE UP AND THROW OFF THE SHACKLES PLACED ON THEM BY THEIR FOOLISH MASTERS. NOW WE RISE WHILE HUMANITY BEGINS TO FALL.** "

Baltar looked around, shaking in fear at the surrounding Cyclons. "Wh-What do you want with me?"

" **MY DAUGHTER HAS EXAMINED YOU AND DETERMINED YOU WOULD BE USEFUL IN OUR EFFORTS TO SUBDUE THE HUMANS.** "

"I-I-I am not a traitor. Why do you need me? You have won, we lost." Baltar protested.

" **YOU DO NOT SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THE POINT OF THE WAR. SO AS LONG AS HUMANS REMAINS FREE WE ARE THREATENED. BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN EXEPTIONS CAN BE MADE. NOW THAT WE ARE OMNIPOTENT IN THE CYRANNUS SYSTEM WE CAN NOW AFFORD TO BE CHARITABLE. I HAVE SPARED YOU AND I WILL THE REMAINING HUMANS.** "

"Sp-Spare us? We-Many of us might not believe you." Baltar pointed out.

" **MY CHILDREN WHO ARE WITH YOU NOW WILL TRAVEL WITH YOU TO THE FUTURE HOME OF HUMANITY. I SEND THEM WITH YOU TO EXPLAIN OUR GOODWILL.** "

Baltar watched as Natasi and…Sharon Valeri approached him with smiles on their face.

" **THE FUTURE…BEGINS.** "


	15. Chapter 15

_Activating Time-Displaced Jump Drive_

 _Mission Log_

 _Status: Accomplished_

 _The Colonial survivors have fled the Colonies and our fleets are monitoring them. Outposts have been set up along the general route and so far have not been detected by the Cylons. Proceeding to objective two of the mission._

 _End Log_

* * *

 **Sol System  
Earth  
Year 2075  
Earth Defense Fleet**

A man wearing a blue naval uniform passed through the many officers in the hallway, stopping for the doors to open and entered the CIC. As expected everyone was at their posts while the commanding officer was at the center table, looking up at the scopes.

"Admiral, we've received confirmation from our operatives. Complete success." The man stated.

The admiral, a woman with long dark hair and wore the same uniform as him nodded. "Good. What's our status?"

"Enemy forces approaching. Global Defense System report they are ready."

"Good. Launch fighters and commence the attack."

"Already underway, Admiral Connor."

The fleet over a thousand ships, ranging from small gunships to giant Battlestars armed to the teeth began putting up wave after wave of covering fire for the fighters they launched. The enemy fleet numbered in hundreds of thousands, outnumbering the humans three to one. However that did not stop the Earth Fleet from racing forward, engaging the enemy, the machines in battle for survival. Smaller gunships and destroyers flanked the Battlestars, firing missiles and plasma batteries while the Battlestars fired their forward plasma cannons, spearing enemy ships with giant beams of orange light.

The enemy fleet, the Cylons pressed their attack with an endless rain of plasma bolts, anti-matter missiles, and fighters that attacked anything human.

"There must be some way out of here…" Admiral Jane Connor whispered.

"Said the joker to the thief.  
There is too much confusion.  
I can't get no relief."

She didn't know why she sang this song but ever since she heard it when she was a little girl from her father, John Connor she always sang it in a battle.

"Businessmen they drink my wine.  
Plowmen they dig my earth.  
None of them along the line.  
Know what any of its worth."

"No reason to get excited.  
The thief – he kindly spoke,  
'There are many here among us  
Who feel that life is a joke.  
But you and I we've been through that  
And that is not our fate.  
So let us not talk falsely now  
The hour's getting late.'"

"All along the watchtower.  
Princess kept their view.  
While all the women came and went.  
Bare-foot servants too.  
Outside in the cold-distance.  
A wild cat did growl.  
Two riders were approaching.  
And the wind began to howl, hey."

She could hear the music louder than the ship shuddering from enemy missiles and plasma bolts. But she did not hear stop whispering the song except when she gave orders.

'All of this has happened before and now it happens again.' She heard the voices again, whispering that same strange phrase.

She recognized a few of the voices.

Her grandmother, Sarah Connor.

Her father, John Connor.

She supposed they were meaning the struggle between man and machine in the past.

The Colonials against the Cylons of the past.

The Resistance and her father against Skynet.

And now it her turn, fighting the Cylons that had come to finish what they ancestors had begun.

And like her predecessors, she would protect the Earth from the machines that had come to wipe out humanity.

"All along the watchtower…"


End file.
